JV football’s Orange and White teams went up against Hendrickson on Thursday, Sept. 12th, and they came away with a loss of 41-30 for JV Orange and a win of 22-12 for JV White. 

To open the games, the JV White team took the field. At the beginning of the first quarter, the Warriors started on defense. After a stop, running back Marcus Clinton ‘22 gained yardage all the way up to the Hendrickson 30-yard line.  This set the Warriors up to score the first touchdown of the game. The other RB, Myles Haney ‘22, then added a two-point conversion. Once switching to defense, the team kept the Hawks from approaching the end zone, so this left the scoreboard at 8-0.

“We need to work as a team better,” Jose Ramirez ‘21 said. “ We played offense really well, and the defense was spot on except a couple of plays, but it’s nothing we can’t work on.”

On the defensive side of the ball, defensive back Damon Dawson ‘22 chased down multiple opponents and forced many incomplete passes by the Hawks. Hendrickson’s offense later scored a touchdown, but failed the two-point conversion attempt. Back on offense, Isaac Grossberg ‘22 caught the ball and wide receiver Demar Flemings ‘21 took the Warriors to the 40-yard line.

“We had a couple of big stops, and the offense converted,” Flemings said. “ We need to come together as a team and practice to get better.”

Within the last 30 seconds of the half, Flemings scored the team another TD. Then, the team easily achieved the two-point conversion. The scores by the end of the quarter were 16-6.

“We did good with learning every play,” Clinton said. “[We were able to] execute the play, and get the ball down the field.”

During halftime, Warrior Pride danced across the field with silver and red pom-poms raised high in a jazz dance routine. 

In the third quarter, the Warriors had a tough time in offense because of many incomplete passes. When playing for defense, the players put up a hard fight and slowed down the Hawks. Unfortunately, Hendrickson still gained a TD. 

Towards the last quarter, the Warriors were able to get back on their feet. Clinton gained a significant amount of yardage and helped the team score another TD that was run down the field by Flemings once again. Moving back into defense, linebacker Dylan Jansky ‘22 and defensive back Leo Kubelka ‘22 helped tackle the opposing teammates. They successfully stopped all of Hendrickson’s drives, and the Hawks never gained any additional points. 

“The defense did amazing and everyone gave their best effort,” Rian Gibbs ‘22 said.

The next game of the night, Orange team took the field. Michael Thailing ‘22, Darion Barnes ‘21, and Flemings helped move the ball across the field on the opposing defense in the first quarter. Later, the Hawks secured an interception and scored a TD with an extra point from a kick. On offense, Rayan Momin ‘22, Thailing , and Xzavier Miller ‘22 gained over 50 yards reaching towards the end zone, and Momin scored a TD.  On defense, LB Anthony Jarmon ‘21 chased the opponents out of bounds while DB Eric Uffelman ‘21 helped tackle them. Although the teammates put in a great effort, the score stayed the same at 7-6.  

There wasn’t any change in scores during the second quarter, but Gus Wendland ‘22, Momin, Sam Doris ‘21, and Thailing helped run out the clock. The start of the third quarter was rough on the Warriors’ end. Although they had a great line of defense, Hendrickson managed to intercept the ball. They capitalized on the interception with a TD, and followed it up with two field goals. This left the score at 27-6 by the end end of the third quarter. 

“I think we definitely need to work on team tackling,” Jarmon said. “Just bonding with each other and getting better communication with us all.”

The Warriors achieved a TD and a two-point conversion at the beginning of the fourth quarter. The offense had many incomplete passes and fumbles and was unable to score, but Grossberg gained a significant amount of yardage. The Warriors defense managed to successfully tackle multiple opponents before the Hawks scored another TD and a two-point conversion.

“I think we still need to work on our consistency,” Miller said. “We need to work on our pass protection and how we do our sprint outs.”

Grossberg scored another touchdown for the team and tacked on another two-point conversion. After switching back to defense, the Hawks scored yet another TD with three minutes left in the game. The game ended with WR Cody Nasrallah ‘22 scoring a TD. After switching back to defense, the Warriors recovered a fumble but were unable to translate that into points to save the team. The Warriors lost with a score of 41-30.

“We’ve got to do a better job of believing we are never out of a game,” coach Paul Thailing said. “and we need to take advantage of our situations and opportunities when they present themselves, and just keep fighting till the end.”       

The JV teams will take on Georgetown on Saturday, Sept. 14th.