Varsity Football Falls Short Against Raiders

Conall Coats, Sports Editor| October 10, 2022

  • Ananias Vance ’24 runs the ball. He was able to gain several yardages for the Warriors.

    Amy Simon
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  • Ananias Vance ’24 runs the ball. He was able to gain several yardages for the Warriors.

    Amy Simon
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  • Lane Wood ’24 and Dylan Cullers ’25 talk to each other after the team huddles. The Warriors soon started the second quarter shortly after.

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  • Ananias Vance ’24 deflects an opponent. He was successful and earned several yardages for the Warriors.

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  • Ananias Vance ’24 runs the ball down the field in hopes to score a touch down. Although the Warriors were unsuccessful with this play, the play shortly after led the Warriors to success with a touchdown.

    Amy Simon
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  • Ananias Vance ’24 runs the ball. He was able to gain several yardages for the Warriors.

    Amy Simon
    '

  • Grant Jaeger ’23 walks to the field after a timeout. This was the second timeout called in the second quarter.

    Amy Simon
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  • The team huddles up after a play to discuss. Shortly after, the team called a timeout.

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Last Friday, Oct. 9, the Warriors lost to the Vista Ridge Raiders 27-16 at Gupton Stadium. Westwood picked up their pass game this week with a confluence of good passes, great blocks by the O-line, and spectacular reads by the offensive coordinators.

In the closing minutes of the first quarter, the Warriors kicked their first field goal of the year, made by Josh Jack ‘26, setting the game to 3-0 Warriors. The kickoff ensuing the field goal was botched by the Raiders and resulted in a fumble recovered by the Warriors, putting them on the Raider’s 38-yard line. Finally, with a run right up the middle, the Warriors ended the quarter with a touchdown by Demani Stewart ‘24, making the score 9-0.

“This week we just tried to play a simple game,” Coach Anthony Wood said. “Just to try to keep the ball away from them and make sure we play the smart game we set out to play.”

The second quarter for the Warriors has been notoriously unlucky. This week was no different. In the starting minutes of the game, Vista Ridge was able to score, making the score 9-7. However, the quarter was not all bad as the Westwood offense drove the ball with short, useful, inside slants by the running back, eventually ending up as a touchdown by Ananias Vance ‘24, scoring Westwood’s final points of the game.

In the third quarter, both teams slowed down due to fatigue, and they understood each other’s play styles more, leading to a slow and uneventful third quarter with both teams exchanging the ball for minimal gains and little first downs. With this, the O-lines on both teams were getting more tired than the rest, leading to Westwood adopting a fast tempo/short passes playstyle going into the fourth quarter.

“I feel our team is getting much better fundamentally with more blocks and better form tackles,” Wood said. “With that will come more endurance for later games.”

The final quarter was a slog for the Warriors. After not scoring in the last half, morale and energy were down, causing more penalties to be thrown, and supplementing a run-heavy offense by the Raiders, which led to another Raider touchdown. However, the Warrior defense held them to only seven points this quarter.

Next week, the Warriors will play against the McNeil Mavericks at the Kelly Reaves Athletics Center at 7:00 P.M. on Friday, Oct. 14.