FORT PIERCE – Much of the talk after the Fort Pierce Westwood Academy football game Thursday night centered around the weight room and getting stronger.
That was after Wellington High had its way with the Panthers, 26-0, in a battle of unbeatens Sept. 3 at Calvin R. Triplett Field at Lawnwood Stadium.
“That’s nothing new,” Westwood coach LaDaris Vann said.
In his second season, Vann has had his players in the weight room in the spring and summer.
“But it’s stacking days in the weight room,” Vann said. “We’re not strong enough. We’re not there yet. It takes years and years and years of being at a program to get that situation taken care of.
“You can’t do it in a year. You can’t do it in two years. You need to continue to stack the weight days.”
Thanks
to a strong defensive effort, including a pair of interceptions by senior Jakeim Ellison, the Panthers (2-1) played Wellington (3-0) on even terms for the first 21 minutes, 36 seconds.
After a short punt gave the Wolverines the ball on the Westwood 29-yard line, sophomore running back Jay’lan Tyler opened the scoring with a 29-yard run on the first play.
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Following a drive where Wellington sacked Panthers sophomore quarterback Elize Pierre twice, the Wolverines got another short field, taking over at the Panthers’ 40.
Getting to the 24, junior kicker Evan Holowecky booted a 41-yard field goal at the half expired giving the visitors a 10-0 lead at halftime.
“We start slow,” Vann said. “The case is we start slow every game. And it cost us. I tell my team each and every day: If we start slow, it’s going to catch up with us.
“It caught up with us tonight.”
The deficit remained 10 throughout the third quarter. In the fourth, Holowecky booted a 25-yard field goal 59 seconds into the period before things unraveled for the Panthers.
Junior Rhys Lewis returned an interception 52 yards for a touchdown.
Westwood then fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and junior Elijah Thomas went over from 2 yards out giving Wellington two scores in 19 seconds and a 26-0 cushion.
Westwood was looking for its first 3-0 start since 2023 when it defeated Royal Palm Beach High, South Fork High and Inlet Grove High to open the campaign.
“Just couldn’t get them going,” Vann said. “The team was just flat. Adversity is something they have to work on. We have to overcome adversity. What are you going to do crumble in it or are you going to learn from it and change that situation?
“We didn’t tonight.”
Westwood takeaways
Panthers defense shines throughout
In addition to Ellison’s two picks, senior Angelo Cyrius, junior Sereal Townsend and Ellison had pass breakups and junior Amar Greene had a sack in the first half.
In the second half, junior Donovan Coe, sophomores Romiro Johnson and Hayden Lewis had tackles for a loss.
The offense struggled throughout
After scoring 61 points in the first two games, including 40 last week against St. Lucie West Centennial, the Panthers’ offense was shut out for the first time since the final game of last season when Dr. Joaquin Garcia pinned a 40-0 setback in the second round of the playoffs
Including the sacks, Westwood gained 49 yards in the first half, 47 through the air.
Sacked five times, the Panthers finished with 10 yards rushing. Pierre completed 13-of-23 for 143 yards with senior Kermaine Walker catching 4 for 26, senior Jeffery Durham 3 for 42 and Malik Brown 3 for 41.
“Blocking. We were terrible up front, missing assignments, missing blocking assignments,” Vann said. “It’s hard when you play and the defense comes in on negative field position. We gave the ball away. We played on our side of the field, and the defense can’t win like that.”
Hitting the road for 4 straight
The Panthers will be on the road for the next four games, although they won’t be going far, visiting Palm Bay Heritage High, Legacy High (district) at Lawnwood, Treasure Coast High and Port St. Lucie High (district) before facing Sebastian River in another Class 4A-District 13 game.
“It might get the focus back on the situation at hand,” Vann said. “Instead of worrying about who’s in the stands or how I look, maybe we can take care of business, because we played great away last year.”
The Panthers were 5-4 in road games a season ago.
“We had games like this at home last year,” Vann said. “So maybe it will help being away.”
Wellington takeaways
Offense overcomes mistakes on fumbles
Despite mistakes with fumbles on a wet field, the Wolverines grinded out drives. They lost 35 yards on three fumbles, but still managed to gain 145 yards on the ground, 117 by Tyler on 16 carries. Sophomore quarterback Alanda Shaw completed 4-of-9 passes for 62 yards, 3 to Tarrens Catul for 52 yards.
Holowecky is a special teams weapon
Along with kicking a pair of field goals, Holowecky, a junior, booted two kickoffs, one to the 3-yard line and one for a touchback. He also flipped the field with his punting.
Also on special teams, senior Leo Quintas blocked a field goal that was recovered by senior Camden Powell.
Wellington gets first shutout since 2024
In pitching its first shutout since blanking Dr. Joaquin Garcia, 7-0, on Oct. 4, 2024, the Wolverines got sacks from Lewis, Quintas, junior Danhoi Williams, senior Cash Crocker and senior Cory Delice, who also had a forced fumble and fumble recovery. Senior Nash McBridge also recovered a fumble.
After going 3-7 last season, Wellington is looking for its first winning season since 2022, when it went 6-5.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Wellington football blanks Westwood for first shutout since 2024
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