FAIRFIELD — The Ludlowe football team is not used to winning.
The team won one game last season after winning none the year before.
That type of losing culture takes time to shake, but Friday night at Taft Field the Falcons took a huge step towards learning how to be a winning program with a 29-21 victory over Westhill.
The win set off a celebration worthy of a state championship as the large student section streamed onto the field at the final whistle and kept on partying into the parking lot after the game.
It is the first time the Falcons are 1-0 since the 2015 season and they hope it is a sign of better days ahead.
“This is the greatest feeling in my life,” Ludlowe quarterback Colin Wilson said. “We have never have had a home game like this in my time here. We usually get good crowds for the first game but we never finish it with a win. This year, thank god, we did. We are trying to win a lot of games this year. We have put in a lot of work and now it is all coming to fruition.”
Wilson ran in the opening score of the game on a 40-yard run on 4th down in the first quarter, threw for a 13-yard touchdown to Aidan Wykoff as time expired in the first half, and threw for one more score touchdown in the third on a 25-yard connection with Jake Northrop.
Wykoff TD as time expires in half gives Ludlowe a 15-8 lead over Westhill at the half #cthsfb pic.twitter.com/7IxZVCnlEY
— Scott Ericson (@EricsonSports) September 8, 2018
Part of earning to win was on display as Wilson was trying to run the ball in with 6:45 left in the game and the Falcons already up 22-8 but he was stripped and Westhill’s Samuel Edouard snagged the ball out of the air, running it back 95 yards for a touchdown.
That cut the lead to 22-14 but rather than getting frustrated, Ludlowe responded two plays later on a 51-yard touchdown run by Brian Howell.
“We are starting to learn how to win,” Ludlowe coach Mitchell Ross said. “You see it, we score a touchdown and the entire team goes down. They are not used to it being business as usual and we are trying to teach them that, and they are getting it. This is a game we could have lost but they held it together and won.”
Westhill scored on a 1-yard run by Ricard Felius with 1:18 remaining but did not recover the ensuing onside kick.
Northrup 25 Yard TD catch 22-8 Ludlowe in third. #cthsfb pic.twitter.com/sRayFI3aLo
— Scott Ericson (@EricsonSports) September 8, 2018
The Vikings got the ball back with eight seconds left but could not get close to the end zone, denying coach Joey DeVellis his first win as Vikings’ coach.
“It wasn’t pretty, at all,” DeVellis said. “Honestly, we are going to look back on this game and see we left at least four scores on the table. We have a young group and it comes down to seniors that want to be leaders that need to make plays. Even if they don’t want to be leaders, they have to. They have to grow up.”
Ja’Kai Young scored on a 56-yard catch and run from AJ Laccona for Westhill’s first touchdown.
LUDLOWE 29, WESTHILL 21
WESTHILL 0 8 0 13—21
LUDLOWE 7 8 7 7—29
L—Colin Wilson 40 run (Victor Cunha kick)
W—Ja’Kai Young 56 pass AJ Laccona (Young pass from Laccona)
L—Aidan Wykoff 13 pass Wilson (Jake Northrop pass Wilson)
L—Northrop 25 pass Wilson (Cunha kick)
W—Samuel Edouard 95 fumble return (kick failed)
L—Brian Howell 51 run (Canha kick)
W—Richard Felius 1 run (Anthony Bivona kick)
Records: W—0-1; L—1-0
