On Friday, Sept. 29, the varsity football team beat the Cedar Ridge Raiders 41-0, handing the Raiders their first shutout loss in their entire Homecoming football game history. The Warriors flooded the Raiders defense with their long range passing coupled with strong runs up the middle, and stomped on the Raiders offense leading the Warriors to the shutout, and improving the Warriors’ record to 4-1 on the year.

The game started out fast with both teams looking to come home with a win, however the Warriors seemed to want it more, playing like a cohesive unit and taking the lead early with a run by Demani Stewart ‘24. The Raider defense did hold Westwood to some tough fourth down situations but the Warriors came out on the right side of the sticks each time, taking a 14-0 lead over the Raiders.

“From special teams to the defense, every player in the field played their heart out tonight.” Coach Anthony Wood said. “We just set up the right plays with the right formations.”

In the second quarter the Warrior defense held the Raiders to no points and snagged a demoralizing interception over the middle of the field by Fred Fisher ‘24, keeping the Cedar Ridge offense from getting the chance to score, and going into the half up 24-0.

After the half the Raiders came out strong with passes down large chunks of the field that left the Westwood Crowd feeling nervous. However the Warrior defensive line stepped up in crunch time with two tackles for losses on a crucial second and third down stretch holding the Raiders to nothing. The Warrior offense came out of the half with the same intensity as the first, with swift passes and more runs up the middle. Midway through the third quarter the Warriors drove to the 50-yard-line, but got stopped due to two back-to-back penalties against the offense forcing the punt on 4th down. However during the punt the punt returner lost control of the ball and the Warriors special teams unit recovered it at the Raider 17-yard-line, and the offense capitalized with a touchdown.

“This game should be the expectation for all Westwood football.” Coach Wood said. “This is the first truly complete game we’ve played at Westwood in a long time.”

As the game came to a close, Coach Wood put in the backups to ensure no unneeded injuries were had by the starters. However this did not slow the game down any, with the backups playing just as hard as the starters on offense and defense. They even scored a big breakaway touchdown in the final moment of the game bringing the game to a close with a 41-0 win over the Raiders.

Next week on Thursday, Oct. 5, the Warriors will play at home against Vista Ridge for their 5th game of the season.