The Warrior football team hosted the annual White versus Orange game on May 17, ending in a victory for the White team with a score of 23-0.

At the beginning of the first quarter, new quarterback RJ Martinez ‘21 helped the White team put a total of 14 points on the board by scoring a touchdown with a pass to Matt Pravednikov ‘19, and handing the ball to running back Nate Anderson ‘21 who sprinted upfield for another six points on the board. Although the Orange team had a strong offense, they were unable to score, and the quarter ended with a score of 20-0.

“I expected a lot out of myself this game especially since this game was my first game as a varsity running back. I think I did pretty good. I think I met up to my expectations,” Anderson said.

After many changes of possession, the Orange team’s defense pushed through to sack the White team’s quarterback, however, the White team regained possession of the ball and scored a touchdown after Luca Mazzola ‘19 completed a pass and scored a touchdown at the end of the first half to put the score at 20-0.

“I think we could still improve on offense we could have had some more points in the second half. Defense did pretty good. I like [our new team], I like our new quarterback RJ Martinez,” Mazzola said.

The two teams battled for possession in the third quarter, but neither were able to score any points.

“The game went really well. I think we could improve on the number of penalties we got during the game. I think [this game] foreshadows a pretty bright season; we played well as a team, we scored some touchdowns, and made some stuff on defense which was pretty good,” Pravednikov said.

Towards the beginning of the fourth quarter, Julian DeBerry ‘21 had a 20-yard run after a handoff from Orange team quarterback Robbie Jeng ’21 to bring the team to a first down, but the ball was soon turned over to the White team. Mohan Hegde ‘19 caught a 40-yard pass from Martinez, but the White team wasn’t able to score. Hegde was able to catch another pass and run another 15 yards upfield. Jack Elliott ‘19 kicked a 25-yard field goal to end the game with a score of 23-0, giving victory to the White team.

“[We] played pretty good, we still need to work on some things, there were a couple of errors we made and it cost us from scoring a couple times, but overall, we did pretty good,” Martinez said. “[I want to work on] definitely footwork, [I’ve] gotta get deeper on my drops. Sliding is a big part, [you] can’t get hit, and making smart plays.”

As a result of a large graduating class, the Warriors must replace the entire kicking line, and following in the footsteps of punter Anthony Brocato ‘18, Elliott, Anthony Bibbo ‘20, and William Ramage ‘20 stepped up to fill these positions, all hailing from the Westwood Soccer team.

“[I] love it. Absolutely love it. I love soccer guys to come out in kick force because, one, they practice kicking under pressure; when you’ve got a kick penalty, they kick all day long, they just kick a round ball instead of an oblong football, so they’ve got power,” Coach Anthony Wood said. “Now what we’ve got to do is we’ve got to just teach them how to execute the timing of the kick, but I’m really pleased with Will [Ramage ‘20], Jack [Elliott ‘19], and Anthony [Bibbo ‘20], I think they’ve been a pleasant surprise, and are really liked by our football players.”

The Warriors will continue to train over the summer for the 2018 season. Go Wood.