Varsity Football Trounces Leander Lions

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  • Varsity players line up to show their respect during the national anthem.

  • John Rhodes ’18 shows his respect during the national anthem.

  • Veronica Vasquez ’18 laughs with her friends before the game.

  • Matt Pravednikov ’19 reaches to catch a pass.

  • Ethan Brown ’19 runs out of the tipi with determination.

  • Mario Debs ’19 pushes through the defense.

  • The Warriors wait for Riley Dale ’18 to snap the ball.

  • Dylan Frazier ’18 waits for Will Jennings ’18 to hike the ball.

  • Kaeden Roberts ’18 approaches the football to kick a field goal.

  • Mario Debs ’19 runs the ball down the field.

  • Irvin Flores ’19 works his was around a defender.

  • Coach Anthony Wood congratulates Reed Harrington ’18 after a successful play.

  • Ethan Brown ’19 leaps to tackle a Leander defender.

  • Sundancer’s start off the halftime show with the first performance.

  • Colorguard performes during halftime show.

  • Drum line hits their drum sticks together during a song.

  • The Tribe jumps to catch t-shirts from cheer.

  • Sloka Chandrasekaran ’20, Brianna Brown ’20, and Jayden Bentler ’18 play their insturments during halftime.

  • Brandon Kothlow ’18 picks up a fumble and continues to run with the ball.

  • Kaeden Roberts kicks the ball down the field.

  • Damon Harris ’19 and Roshan Mara ’18 brought down defender.

  • Matt Pravednikov ’19 pushes back the Leander defender to run the ball down the field.

  • Reese Green ’18 waits for defense to hike the ball.

  • Will Jennings ’18 makes a run down the field.

  • Reid Carrier ’18 catches a pass from quarterback Will Jennings ’18.

  • Akhil Akshintala ’18 dives to bat the ball away from the opponent.

  • Cheerleaders Kylie Allen ’19 and Kennedy Mathews ’18 jump on each others back in celebration over their win.

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Thursday night the Warriors trounced the Leander Lions, tagging them with a 0-3 record for the start of the Lions’ season. The Dragon stadium was pervaded with determination, prevalence, and upsurging motivation between the coaches and players.

“I think they played well, I don’t think we played great but we played well. Each week we have been getting stronger, and I think tonight there were some things for example secondary coverage; that was busted at times but overall I feel like we played well. We care about them, we love them, and I believe that they will keep getting better,” defensive coordinator Janson said.

After not receiving the ball first, the Warriors gained possession over the ball less than two minutes into the quarter. Within the first few plays for the Warriors offense, Mario Debs ’19 ran 16 yards for their first down. Over the next few plays, the Warriors ran the ball consistently with Debs as running back. As the Warriors inched closer to the end zone, Dylan Frazier ‘18 caught a running pass for a 24-yard gain with the ball placed on the five-yard line. Soon after, Jaikem Murphy ‘18 ran the first touchdown of the night in. The kick was then returned back to the 22-yard line by kicker Kaeden Roberts ‘18. Following this, Reed Harrington ‘18 tackled an offensive player for the Lions and while on this play, a flag was called which resulted in the ball being pushed back to the 13-yard line. Once the ball inched back to the 22-yard line, it was turned back over into the Warriors’ possession again. Soon after, Will Jennings ‘18 ran about 20 yards to put the Warriors at the 19-yard line, ending the quarter with the Warriors ahead by 7-0.

To kick off the second quarter, the Warriors called a timeout almost immediately after a miscommunication in play calls. After Jennings ran five yards, a flag was called due to holding on the Lions resulting in a 10-yard penalty and the ball moved to the 21-yard line. Straightaway, the Lions call a timeout. Slipping past many defenders, Murphy carried the ball to the nine yard line allowing for Jennings to run a touchdown and a two point conversion in. The Warriors quickly regained possession over the ball allowing for Matt Pravednikov ‘19 to catch a first down on the 21-yard line and Murphy to run the ball to the 12-yard line. This allowed for Ian Cox ‘19 to easily run the ball on for the third touchdown of the game. Once the Lions regained possession of the ball, Brandon Kothlow ‘18 trailed closely behind an offensive player that had possession over the ball and took him down at the three yard line. Just following this, the Lions scored their first touchdown of the game. Entering into the second half of the quarter, Will Clitheroe ‘19 sacked the quarterback on the second down with 10 yards to go. After this slight fallback, the Lions ran the ball into the endzone for the second touchdown of the game. After strenuous efforts to score, the Warriors settled for a field goal kicked by Roberts. In the final seconds of the half, the game seemed to slow down. With 34 seconds left, Zach Hoover ‘19 took down an offensive player for the Lions on the 11-yard line. With much debate on play calls, the Warriors call a timeout. Proving their resilience, defensive player Kothlow and a few others continued to block the Lions from scoring which resulted in a field goal attempt by the Lions. This was inevitably blocked by Reese Green ‘18 only one second before the end of the half, finishing out ahead 25-14.

“The thing that stands out the most in my mind was they had the long return right before halftime and got down to the ten yard line and made a defensive stand down,” Coach Janson said. “Akhil Akshintah ‘19 made a phenomenal tackle which prevented the Lions from scoring and then Reese Green ‘18 blocked the field goal, That to me was really a game changer.”

At the half, Sydney Busfield ‘18 was recognized as SunDancer of the week while the Westwood Warrior marching band performed alongside the SunDancers to September.

The Warriors began the third quarter off with fortitude. To stir up the crowd and stimulate merriment for the Warriors, Frazier received a pass from the 48-yard line into the end zone for a 52-yard touchdown pass. With much uneasiness stirring on the Lions sidelines, they called a timeout. Subsequently, the Lions punted the ball to Reid Carrier ‘18. After many consecutive running routes were played, Cox ran the ball back into the end zone. Now with the ball in the Lions’ possession, Damon Harris ‘19 sacked the Lions quarterback on the 25-yard line. Now in Warrior possession, Frazier caught a complete pass while an illegal man was down field for the Lions, which resulted in the ball being brought back to the 41-yard line, finishing off the quarter 39-14.

“My touchdown pass was awesome because it was such a perfect pass and the play was called at the perfect time,” Frazier said. “The best moment of the night was definitely Zach Hoover ‘19 saving the touchdown on Leander’s big kickoff return, him saving the touchdown let the defense hold them from scoring and kept them from scoring and kept our momentum going through the second half. The player’s mood all in all was confident, we had the win in our heads, and we executed it.”

For the majority of the first half of the final quarter, the ball was ran back and forth between end zones. When the clock projected 6:52, Frazier caught a first down placing the ball on the 18-yard line, which then allowed for Cameron Thomas ‘18 to score the final touchdown of the game for the Warriors. In the final moments of the game, Leander then scored their final touchdown of the game, still leaving them behind 46-21.

“Great game, we got a lot of work done,” Coach Forr said. “Some of the best plays of the night were when they ran the ball, the offensive line did really good. Leander has really good defense and we were able to run the ball, that was huge for us. Watching Jaikem Murphy ‘18 and Mario Debs ‘18 run the ball was just outstanding.”

Come out and support the Warriors as they face off at John Gupton Stadium against the Vista Ridge Rangers at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 22. Go Wood.