In a last second upset, the varsity football team lost in overtime to the Cedar Ridge Raiders 35-28 on Friday, Sept. 20. This loss came after a game full of outstanding defensive stands and clutch moments that kept the Warriors in the game as long as they did.

“We have to come out and we have to play hard each game,” Coach Anthony Wood said. “We came out, played, and saw how it went.”

The game started like the past few games for the Warriors, with a deep pass over the middle to instantly put Westwood on the board and in the lead. With this early advantage, the Warriors knew to take their next possessions slow to keep a level head and prevent the Raiders from catching up. However, this deep defensive playstyle did not last long as Cedar Ridge soon caught up to the Warriors, making the score 7-7 with seven minutes left in the quarter. Westwood and Cedar Ridge continued this cycle deep into the first half as the Warriors ended the first quarter 14-7 after a direct snap to Drew Norell ‘26 in a wildcat formation. This lead did not last long, as a series of slip-ups that resulted in penalties on offense and defense allowed the Raiders to eventually find their way to a touchdown to tie the game up at 14.

 Now, in an attempt to gain a lead before the end of the half, the Warriors continued to drive, swapping their quarterback to Cooper Waits ‘27 to see if they could move big chunks off the field. But after a disheartening three and out from the Warriors caused by even more penalties, their hopes of a points advantage went away as they ended the half 14-14. 

“We are in the right spot during the right plays,” Coach Willaims said. “So our biggest thing is to fit things up right and tackle.”

After halftime, the energy on and off the field began to shift as the Warrior offense began to slow down, not scoring a touchdown in the third quarter. Now the game was on the defense to prevent the Raiders from gaining too much of a lead while the offense tried to find their feet. The defense did just that with spectacular backfield pressure by Caius Coy ‘25 and good coverage by the cornerback team, preventing any breakaway plays by the Raiders. However, this did not cut it as Cedar Ridge put up another 14 points on the Warriors throughout the third quarter, nearly ending the game for them as the Raiders were up 28-14. 

“We emphasized our philosophy,” Coach Williams said. “We continued to win on first down, win on third down, and took the ball away as much as we could, trying to give our offense as many opportunities as we could.”

In the fourth quarter, the Warriors found their foothold, catching up with the Raiders on the scoreboard and shutting them down through even more heads-up plays, demonstrating the rapid growth they have seen throughout the season. The Warrior offense found its footing in their running back Xavion Sutton ‘25, who managed to find yards no matter the play. This guaranteed yardage kept Westwood moving down the field even when the passing game proved fruitless. In a clutch play with two minutes left on the game clock, wide receiver Colten Case ‘26 beat his defender in the end zone to tie the game at 28-28 — giving hope to the Warrior sideline. 

These drives throughout the fourth quarter were only made possible by continued defensive excellence as the Warriors made five back-to-back defensive stands. This multitude of forced punts and a couple of clutch fumble recoveries kept the Raiders from getting away with the score and brought the game into overtime.

“We came out on fire in the second half and it showed,” Coach Williams said. “We turned it up another notch and settled at an intensity they could not match.”

Unfortunately for the Warriors as a whole, the offense could not cut it down in the red zone and with a couple of play-calling mistakes followed by missed catches on the field, the offense put it on the Warrior defense one last time to bail them out. But seven stands was too much to ask for, as soon the Raiders spun into the endzone, ending the game 35-28 in the fifth quarter. 

The Warriors will play next against the Manor Mustangs at home on Thursday, Sept. 26 with a prepared outlook behind their practices.