The Varsity football team lost 52-7 to the Round Rock Dragons on Friday Sept. 16. This makes the fifth year in a row the Warriors have lost the Battle for the Bell. However, it wasn’t all bad with the Warriors picking up the offense and defense for the entirety of the second half.

In the first quarter, the Dragons started off strong with 14 points scored in the first two minutes due to unfortunate mistakes on the special teams. However, throughout the rest of the quarter, the Warriors held the Dragons to only one touchdown. In the final seconds, Westwood threw a reception to Grant Jaeger ‘23, getting them into the red zone.

“Apparently, we didn’t work enough,” Coach Anthony Wood said. “It’s unfortunate, and I think the big stage got to us too early. However, that gives us plenty to work on in the coming weeks.”

The second quarter started with a great defensive stand by the Warriors to prevent the Dragons from scoring their fourth touchdown. The Westwood offense picked up a dangerous but lightly effective pass-heavy offense leading into a lucrative second quarter ending with an explosive touchdown pass by Jaeger to end the quarter 35-7.

The final half of the game passed by quickly as Westwood adapted to the Round Rock offense and stopped most of their popular pass and run options. However, the Dragons soon caught on and started using unpredictable move sets and plays to befuddle the Warriors. When the Warriors realized this, they settled into a run-heavy game to keep the ball as long as possible and tire out the Round Rock defense, which worked to some extent. 

“I’m excited to keep working next week because it’s our bye-week,” Coach Wood said. “Meaning we can really iron out the mistakes that we saw out here today to hopefully win some more football games.”

The Warriors plan on working hard and coming back stronger than before at their next game on Friday, Sept. 30 at the Kelly Reeves Athletic Complex against Cedar Ridge.