In the season opener, the freshman football team went up against Eastview and lost by a score of 32-3 on Wednesday, Aug. 28th. The Warriors had a rough start. Their defense had a tough time stopping their opponents and was unable to prevent Eastview’s first touchdown.

“Their running back really had us on their offense,” Jordi Martinez-Benitez ‘23 said. “I think if we work together, we should get stronger and better as a team.”

When the Warriors switched to offense, the other team was able to gain two more points from a safety. A couple of drives later, the offense scored a field goal to cut Eastview’s lead to 8-3. After initially surrendering a touchdown, the defense bounced back as Jack Ziebell ‘23, Josh Dodds ‘23, and Jamie Kitchell ‘23 helped tackle Eastview’s ball carrier on multiple plays.

“It was a lot more competitive and tougher than it was last year. We just need to pick up the pace and try harder,” Kitchell said.

In the second quarter, the Warriors were able to shut out Eastview. Lleyton Naar ‘23 successfully tackled many players alongside his teammates. Middle linebacker Brian Romero-Marrero ‘23 managed to bring down multiple opponents as well.

“We need to focus on getting better in everything we do so we can become stronger and faster,” Romero-Marrero said. 

On the offensive side of the ball, there were multiple incomplete passes, fumbles, and low snaps. This led to Eastview scoring two more safeties. During the third quarter, Eastview added a touchdown to increase their lead to 18-3. 

“I believe we have a lot of potential,” coach Jacob Beaty said. “We just really need to tidy up and execute well. More so they need to focus on the small things, doing their own job. They need to focus on what their assignment is and doing the best that they can. They had a lot of heart and never gave up and that’s one thing you can’t always ask for.”

Westwood’s team didn’t have much energy left during the last quarter. They mostly struggled to tackle the ball carrier. This led to Eastview scoring another touchdown to bring the score to 24-3.

“My greatest challenge was probably fatigue because I was playing on both teams,” Paul Estrada ‘23 said. “Next time I will prepare with a better mind set.” 

Later, Eastview scored another safety and touchdown within the last 7 minutes of the game and set the final score at 32-3.

“I feel like we’re gonna do a lot better than what we’ve been doing,” Chance Felan ‘23 said. “We’ve actually been working very well as a team, but I feel like we didn’t make the best decisions. We need to hype up our teammates more and make sure the energy is high.” 

Chase Griffin ‘23 also thought the Warriors had more room for improvement.

“The team looked really good in practice, but we just didn’t perform today, so I have a good feeling about the next game,” Griffin said.

The Warriors will look to make those improvements in their next match against Austin High on Thursday, Sept. 5th.