Capping off a season full of hard-fought battles, the varsity football team sent off their seniors with one last win against the Vista Ridge Rangers. Taking the lead in the first quarter and maintaining it throughout the game, the Warriors beat the Rangers 34-33 with a last-second field goal disruption. In a game full of missed calls, poor reads, and scrappy play, this was a show of whose offense had more control and whose defense could disrupt the best.
“Relentless effort was what defined our game,” Aeb Whitley ‘25 said. “We started to slip up and miss our cues, but it was all made up for with relentless pursuit.”
The game did not start well for the Warriors, as a three and out appearance gave the Rangers the ball at the 50 and an easy chance for early points. But soon, the Warrior defense, led by Caius Coy ‘25, found a foothold, holding them to 30 yards and forcing a field goal, with the Warriors still in striking distance. Unfortunately for Westwood’s sideline, the offense found no reprieve as two other failed drives gave Vista the ball. But yet again, the defense did not let it slide, as two more shutdowns ended the quarter 3-0 with Vista Ridge in the lead.
“Our defense came ready to play tonight,” Coach Dezmun Williams said. “Their first drive we gave up three, but we stalled them out for the next three [as] they didn’t expect us to play as physically as we did.”
The second quarter is where the Warriors found their groove as the first two drives for the offense resulted in a touchdown by Drew Norell ‘26, one of which an unguarded slant over the middle that demolished the Ranger morale. These two drives, followed by strong tackles and quick pressure by the defensive line, prevented Vista from retaliating, setting the game 14-3 with seven left in the half. This streak did not stop here, as a 20-yard rushing touchdown by Xavion Sutton ‘25 that began with two broken tackles put the Warriors up 17 on the Rangers. These athletic drives and robust stops ended the half with the Warriors up 20-3.
“One of our sayings is, ‘Train for war and fight to win,’” Coach Williams said. “And this week we trained for war and we had to fight to win and I was excited to see it.”
The Warriors faced a rough start in the second half as the teams began to fight each other, before and after the plays, causing repeated personal fouls on each side of the ball. The most prominent of which gave Vista the ball on Westwood’s 46, allowing them to bomb it into the redzone on the first play of the half, putting them 20-10 with the Warriors on their back foot. But soon after, the game was 20-17 as the Warriors fumbled the returning kick on the 30, allowing another deep pass down the sideline, putting the game back into the reach of the Rangers. The early touchdowns changed the Warriors’ game as their offense began to falter due to continued unsportsmanlike conduct calls for the Warriors; these missteps gave Vista an opportunity at the lead. And so they led with another pass to the end zone after two penalties and a few missed tackles gave them the field position. Now, with the game 24-20 as the Rangers scored their 21st unanswered point of the third quarter, the Warriors had to come back, and do it soon. Starting their drive with short passes to the outside, down field blocks by the wide receivers, bracketed the Rangers, earning Westwood’s second chance at victory. Following these clutch blocks and heavy hits, the Vista secondary could not keep up with Norell as another catch over the middle put the Warriors at the one. Eventually jamming it in after some struggle, the Warriors re-took the lead 27-24.
“We just came out short in the second half,” Whitley said. “We let up and felt our way through when we should have continued to push and keep going.”
Moving into the final quarter of the season, the Warriors’ seniors were fired up and ready to end the game with a win. Trudging down the field, Sutton, averaging five yards a carry throughout the fourth, assured that the Warriors had a way to move the ball. However, this was rarely necessary as Westwood continued to block the best they had all year, creating space and giving the ball carriers a chance to make a move. Soon, these moves accumulated in another big pass over the middle that deepened the Warriors lead 34-24, putting one more nail in the Rangers’ coffin. Despite the offense’s increasing victory and energy, the defense never let up, despite their fatigue. Following big hits by Wade Allen ‘26 that left Vista Ridge reeling, Whitley stopped all Vista’s momentum with a clutch interception, giving the Warriors the opportunity to score and end the game once and for all. Unfortunately for the Warriors, a mix of penalties and sacks by the Rangers gave them the ball at the 45. In a continuation of the Warriors’ negative momentum, the flags began to add up as the Rangers continued to take big shots for a touchdown that put them in the red zone. However, the Warriors, with a series of broken blocks, near TFLs, and covered passes, soon forced another field goal out of the Rangers, putting the game nearly out of reach one last time.
“It’s a pride thing for us,” Coach Williams said. “[When] you’re playing for these seniors’ [futures], playing for these coaches, it’s important to everyone [on the team].”
In the final drives of the game, the Warriors saw their chance and attempted to take it by calling a series of trick plays and short passes that hinged on yards after catch fell short of a first down. This misfortune on the Warrior offense put it all on the defense one last time. With two minutes left all the Warriors had to do was prevent a touchdown and force them to take as long as possible. However, as fatigue soon set in on the defensive line, each player was running on fumes with little energy to break through the line, but the d-line persisted, maintaining pivotal pressure to the Vista backfield. But soon, their exhaustion took hold as an uncontested pass over the middle of the field scored the Ranger’s final touchdown they needed.When all hope was lost, Whitley, pushing all he could towards the place kicker in an attempt to block the kick, rushed him. This skewed the PAT as the Rangers missed the final point they needed to tie the game, giving the Warriors the ball while they were still in the lead. With that, the Warriors secured their win 34-33 over the number three team in the district, proving their devotion and sending the crowd home with their heads high.
“I think our off-season will be a good one as a lot of our young guys have experience now, so [i’m excited] to see our [majority] junior and senior team next year,” Coach Williams said.“Unfortunately, we are losing some key pieces with this senior class, but all in all, the seniors this year have laid the concrete to the house we are about to build.”
This was the Warriors’ final game of the season. However this is not the end of their efforts as the juniors and sophomores will continue to push and strive for a better season in the years to come.
