Football: Oakton Takes First Loss Against Westfield

Westfield senior running back Kendall Anderson rushed for 144 yards and five touchdowns in Friday night’s 35-10 win at Oakton High — and those were just the five carries that finished in the end zone.

In a showdown of undefeated Concorde District football heavyweights, Anderson tipped the scales for the Bulldogs (8-0 overall, 3-0 Virginia AAA Concorde) with scoring runs of 28, 7, 64, 30 and 15 yards. All told, he rang up 242 of Westfield’s 341 total offensive yards.

“Kendall has great vision,” Westfield head coach Kyle Simmons said. “Our line gives him two ways to go, and he picks the right one. And if it’s not there, he does a great job of putting his shoulder down and getting the tough yards, too.”

Westfield’s defense did the rest, barring two big Oakton (7-1, 2-1) pass plays. After Anderson’s first scoring run, Cougars senior quarterback Tuck Masker connected on a 40-yard heave to classmate Ryan Santoro. That set up a 37-yard Eric Goins field goal to make it 7-3 late in the first quarter.

On the first possession of the second half, Masker threw what looked like a sure interception, but turned into a 38-yard touchdown pass when a Bulldog safety bobbled the overthrown ball long enough for junior Kyle Downer to take it off his fingertips and dive for the goalline. That made the score Westfield 21, Oakton 10.

“When you get down like that, there’s so much more pressure as an offense to respond,” Masker said. “If we see them again, we can’t let them get up by two possessions.”

Masker finished with 125 yards on 9-of-14 passing, but netted 0 yards on 16 rushes as the Bulldogs locked down Oakton’s running game. A 33-yard, third-quarter burst by junior Mike Wandy accounted for 60 percent of the Cougars’ rushing yards.

Anderson, meanwhile, was racking up ground yardage in every way imaginable. His first-quarter touchdown was one cut to space and an untouched 28-yard dash to pay dirt.

His second came on third-and-goal from the 7-yard line after a blocked punt by Tyrone Walker set Westfield up in Cougar territory. Anderson broke through the line and met Goins, a safety who outweighs him by 30 pounds, at the 2. Both players wound up in the end zone, Goins flat on his back.

Anderson’s third score of the first half was a 64-yard sprint straight up the middle. He bounced his third-quarter touchdown around right tackle.

“Their linebackers like to flow fast to the ball,” Anderson said. “It makes it easier for cutbacks.”

His final touch of the game came 8 seconds into the fourth quarter and closed the night’s scoring. He took a pitch, broke through the arms of linebacker Jake Farrar and gritted his teeth through the last 15 yards between him and the end zone. Job done, Anderson limped to the sideline, where he watched the rest of the game with an ice bag taped to each calf muscle.

Westfield will need those calves cramp-free when it faces another unbeaten Concorde District foe next week in Centreville (8-0, 3-0). Oakton visits Robinson next week before taking on Centreville, and then could see a familiar foe again the following week when the playoffs officially begin.

Unofficially, teams in the ultra-competitive Concorde District are already feeling the postseason atmosphere.

“Our coordinator, [Mat] Shannon came into our offensive meeting this week and said, ‘This is the first game of the playoffs,’” Anderson said. “This is where you separate the good teams from the great teams.”