The Wayland Warriors stunned the Westford Academy Grey Ghosts on Friday night with a 36-7 blow out. Going into the game, Westford Academy was ranked 10th in the Boston Globe’s Eastern Massachusetts High School Football Standings. However, Wayland’s strong defense and superb offense led to a massacre of the Grey Ghosts.

The Warriors were underdogs, mainly due to Westford’s Patrick Dugan.  The six-foot tall senior quarterback threw for 25 touchdowns and rushed for 12 last year as a junior.

Coming into this year with an average of three touchdowns per-game, Dugan was the most feared QB in the DCL Large.  On paper, Wayland did not stand a chance.

Although the competition was intimidating, the Warriors seemed calm and cool in the pre-game warm-ups.  The faces of the Wayland players looked strong and motivated.

“Before the game we watched Gladiator in L1 and knew we had to come out big to get Wayland on the map,” said junior Tyler Mordas.

From the beginning of the game, Wayland dominated the line of scrimmage. The defense came out strong, led by senior linebackers Tommy Carmichael and JC Murtagh.  They stopped the Ghosts on Wayland’s forty-yard line and did not let them get there again until late in the second quarter.

Possibly the biggest surprise of the night came from the Wayland offense, who scored early and often. Senior quarterback Ben Shelton was the catalyst for the offense, going 12 of 17 for 209 yards and rushing for 97 yards on 11 carries.

“I feel like people really underestimate my speed,” said Shelton in an interview with WayCAM TV after the game. His touchdown pass to Nate Fujita early in the first quarter gave Wayland a 6-0 edge.

Wayland continued their dominance with a Manwon Brisbane rushing touchdown to make it 12-0. Wayland then proceeded to continually shut down the Westford offense while scoring twice more, including a 40-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Tommy Carmichael.

Going into the half, Wayland was leading 26-0. The entire Wayland crowd was abuzz, including a group of Spanish exchange students who painted their chests with the words “Go Wayland!”

Fans on both sides kept muttering one word: “Unbelievable.”  No one could believe that Wayland was so harshly dominating the number 10 team in the state.

Coming out of the half, the Grey Ghosts looked fed up.  They got the ball first and booked it down the field.  The two-minute drive was capped off by a twenty-two yard run by their senior running back, Zach Ingalls.

The score now read 26-7.  There was a sinking feeling in much of the Wayland crowd that the lead was too good to be true.

It was right after this drive that Wayland defensive coordinator Sam Breslin pulled his defense aside and gave them a pep talk.

“You guys need to knock them out and don’t ever let up,” yelled Breslin at his defensive front.

When asked if he had been worried about a second half rally from the Grey Ghosts, Tyler Mordas responded, “We weren’t that worried; they thought they had some momentum, but I knew we had the upper edge and our defense, myself included, would never let up.”

The defense must have heard Breslin’s message loud and clear because as they held the Grey Ghosts scoreless for the rest of the game.

On almost every play there was a Wayland lineman in the backfield, whether it was Kim, Kennedy, Mordas, Lerman, or Gunshenan.  DJ Henderson and Daniel James both had huge interceptions in the second half, which tormented the normally successful Westford Academy offense.

Wayland sealed the deal in the fourth quarter with a touchdown bomb from Shelton to Calvin Williams, the senior wide receiver.  Wayland had already added a field goal in the third quarter, making the final score 36-7.

The huge upset will likely be one of the major highlights of the year for the football team.  This Friday, Wayland will face arguably their toughest rival, Lincoln-Sudbury, away.

“We have momentum,” said Shelton. “We will play it all one game at a time.”

See more from our series Warriors Under The Lights »