After a long hard nine months of off season training, the Warriors came back into full swing by defeating the Lehman Lobos 42-14. The Warriors went 0-10 last season and were determined to prove their skill in the next season, and rightfully so, they did.

“Before games, I’m nervous like everyone else is,” Will Jennings ’18 said. “If you’re not there’s something wrong. But once we’re in the locker room the nerves flush out of you and it’s total focus. Preparing for each game takes constant effort on and off the field, film is a major part of what we do to study so we know the ins and outs of our opponents before the game even begins. The most exciting part of the game for me was when the last seconds of the clock ticked off and we got to stand in front of the band and sing our alma mater with our heads held high.”

At the start of the first quarter, Jaikem Murphy ‘18 got a fumble recovery and ran the ball to get a Warrior first down. With only six minutes left on the clock, quarterback Will Jennings ’18 threw the ball to wide receiver Colin Uguchi ‘17 to get the first touchdown of the season. Now with only 4:06 left on the clock, linebacker Miles Webber ‘17 scores a touchdown, putting the score at 14-0 at the half.

“I feel complete adrenaline and a little anxious in the locker room, but the nervousness goes away and excitement sets in when the first play starts,” Iguchi said. “The first game of the season is always a bit of a test. It’s our first chance to get out there on the field and see what we truly bring together as a team. We worked really hard in practice and tried to prepare as best we could for yesterday’s game. I think all of our hard work paid off. The most exciting part of the game for me was looking up at the scoreboard at the end of the game knowing we had broken our losing streak.”

During the top of the second quarter, wide receiver Trevor Smith ‘17 gained the warriors their first down. Iguchi then caught and ran the ball 20 yards. Subsequently, Ugwu ran the ball to get another touchdown with 6:50 left of the half. With 5:40 in the clock, the Lehman quarterback ran an 80 yard touchdown leaving the score at 21-7. Towards the end of the half with 2:27 left, running back Te’shon McGuinnis ‘17 caught the ball in the end zone to get another touchdown. With only 40 seconds on the clock, Wide receiver Aiden Asal ‘17 then caught the ball in the end zone, resulting in the last Warrior touchdown of the half. This then put the score at 35-7 at the half.

“Right before the game, inside the locker room feels like the calm before the storm,” Asal said. “Which fits because one of our mottos this year is ‘I Am The Storm’. One of the many ways we prepared for the game is eating a lot healthier on game days. The most exciting part had to be when I scored because it was pure joy.”

During halftime, the SunDancers announced their new major Tori Loper ‘17, and the SunDancer of the week, Morgan Sandlin ‘17.

“Being a senior is great because there’s a lot less pressure on you and you can can just enjoy what’s going on around you,” Lucas Madden ‘17 said. “It was awesome to see our warriors improve and get better after all their hard work, and to be able to bring us home a win. Being part of The Tribe is something I’ve looked forward to since freshman year and the energy we bring is really exciting and a lot of fun. The best part of the game was breaking out cold streak and getting a good win.”

At the top of the second half with 9:13 on the clock, Jennings ran 30 yards through a hard block to score the Warriors final touchdown of the game. Towards the end of the fourth quarter, Lehman then scored again, putting the score at 42-14.

“I feel great about this win right now, we asked the kids to do one thing and that was win and I thought they came out tonight and executed the game plan well and it was just a great victory all around,” Coach Wood said. “This may only be the first game of the season but it gives us the confidence and belief that these guys are good just like we have been telling them the past nine months. It shows that we believe in this team, and that its a good football team, and tonight they showed what they’re capable of. I love these boys, they’re great, they’re hard workers, they do everything we ask them to do and they’re just a lot of fun to be around. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of guys. We had a spirit bus come down and support the guys, and so having our students section here, having the parents and the band supporting us, it was just a great felling all around.”

Come out and support the Warriors at their next game on Friday, Sept. 2. The game will also be broadcasted live on WWSN and live streamed on wariorsports.org, kmacsports.com, rpmradiotx.com and am1300thezone.com. Go Wood.