On Friday, October 15, the Warriors played against the Vista Ridge Rangers and came away with a loss of 45-2. The homecoming crowd was alive with energy throughout the game and motivated the warriors to keep fighting a touch defense. 

Starting off slow, the Warriors missed a few passes and watched Vista Ridge gain their first touchdown. Then the Warriors gained a two point conversion leaving the scores 2-6. When the ball was in the Rangers possession, there was a fumble and offensive line, Evan Herrera ‘23, recovered it with the turnover. Not long after Vista Ridge had possession again, Jett Hart ‘22 recovered the ball but the points were immediately returned due to a personal foul. Continuing on throughout the last five minutes of the quarter, the Warriors never managed to throw any successful passes. Vista Ridge was also struggling to make their way on the field when defensive players Javen Barientes ‘22, Lee Richards ‘22, and Haiyang Pang ‘23 were blocking the endzone. Unfortunately, the Rangers scored another touchdown with an extra point leaving the scores 2-13 at the end of the first quarter. 

In the second quarter wide receiver Jaiden Webber ‘22 caught a great pass across the field, but they didn’t get much farther. Wide receiver Jackson Laughlin ‘22 later gained a fourth down conversion. Quarterback Mike Davis ‘24 gained the same type of conversion shortly after. Vista Ridge then recovered a fumble and scored their third touchdown and a field goal with five minutes left on the clock, forcing Westwood to call a timeout. Jumping back into the game, Cody Naarallah ‘22 tackled a Vista Ridge player on their third down, but the Rangers eventually progressed and made another touchdown with the extra point conversion in the last four minutes. With the Warriors not making much yardage, the Rangers  later gained a pick six with an extra point leaving the scores 2-34. Darien Barnes ‘22 made a big run but there was a ten yard penalty from a block in the back by Webber. Barnes made it to the 45 yard line on offense, but the Warriors were unable to move any further. The Warriors called another two timeouts within the last 40 seconds and shortly after Vista Ridge made their first timeout. Then Barientes stopped a close pass in the endzone, preventing the Rangers from scoring another touchdown with four seconds left. Vista Ridge gained only one point from making a field goal. At the end of the first half, the scoreboard was left with 2-37. 

“We got a couple stops, ” Webber said. “Offense-wise we didn’t get started as fast, but we kept the tempo up and we tried our hardest. I feel like we were lazy and just not focused enough. We need to work on our effort and drive for the game.”

For the halftime show the Sundancers and Warrior Pride danced to the band’s ambiance. The field was ecstatic with orange, white, and shimmery outfits. The cheerleaders bounced around wearing their pink bows to support breast cancer awareness. Students selected for homecoming court made an appearance on the field in their fancy dresses and shoes. With their parents beside them, the crowd on the bleachers cheered for them in excitement. Seniors Catherine Zhang and Hrushi Saranu were crowned as this year’s Homecoming Royalty. 

The Warriors ran back onto the field ready to fight with the ball in their possession. Wide receiver Grant Jaeger ‘23 made a few close first downs. Barnes helped gain some more yardage on the offense. After getting a turnover on downs, Vista Ridge scored a touchdown with a two point conversion. Westwood then called for another timeout. Going back into the game, Nasrallah and Scott Uffelman ‘25 helped block the rangers from scoring again. By the end of the quarter, the scores were 45-2. 

“Our tackling could have been a little bit better,” defensive coordinator Kyle Coats said. “We had some assignments that got blown that lead to some big plays. We gotta get those things corrected, and I like that the kids are still fighting hard after a game like that.”

In the last quarter Michael Thailing ‘22 pushed an opponent out of bounds and Hart made some more tackles. Vista Ridge was going to score a touchdown but the points were taken back because an opponent player held. Throughout the remainder of the quarter, the Warriors failed to make complete passes, but prevented the Rangers from scoring further. This hard fight left the final scoreboard with 45-2. The varsity Warriors plan to go up against Cedar Ridge next Tuesday night at Cedar Ridge high school.