Neck and neck in a close game, the JV Orange football team played in a tight match against Austin High on Thursday, Sept. 4. After a nail biting game and a failed two point conversion the Warriors fell just short, the final score was 12-13.

“Im proud of what our defense has achieved today,” Head Coach Derek Ward said. “What we need is to improve our offense and get more practice in. I think we have made steady improvement, but what we need to do is keep going” 

The first quarter started off slow with strong defense by both teams. Due to the diligent defense on both sides of the field no points were scored and few runs were successful throughout the second quarter. Vishnu Nair ‘28 made a heroic interception for the Warriors at the 36 yard line, however not much was done with it due to the thick defense laid down by Austin. The first quarter ended with a score of 0-0.

“We had no momentum at the start of the game and to be honest,”Anthony Page ‘26 said “ I think that’s our main issue.”

In the second quarter the trend continued with very few yards gained offensively due to strong defensive plays made by the Maroons. Bad playmaking and communication by Austin High  along with good coverage by the Warriors allowed for the clock to run down without any points sneaking onto the board. As the time dwindled down in the first half, both teams slowed momentum not adding any more points to their score. The final score of the second quarter remained 0-0. 

“What we need is more starting momentum, we caught up later in the game but we need to get up and go, put something on the board early,” Page said.

The third quarter started with high hopes for the Warriors as they managed to slow the Maroon offense and push them to the 4th down. However, the Maroons slipped through and were able to score a touchdown after a pass was left uncovered by the Warriors; bringing the score to 6-0. With the extra added pressure as the third quarter was coming to a close, the Warriors huddled together to muster up a game plan to begin their comeback. The final score of the third quarter was 6-0.

“We had great momentum in the fourth quarter but we as a team need to pull together the momentum [earlier],” Page said.

Coming out of the third quarter, with no points on the board, the Warriors swapped energy to work together beginning their run. Even with the Warriors best defensive efforts, Austin High managed to push through it and score on the Warriors again making the score 13-0. A good interception made by Noah Doyle ‘27 allowed the Warriors to gain possession of the ball. Charging forward with the recently gained momentum, a 53 yard pass by Blaine Kimble ‘27 to Page allowed the Warriors to score their first points of the night, making the score 6-13.

“I think we need to do better as an offense,” Andrew Lee ‘28 said. “Honestly I don’t think we’ve had enough practice this far into the year to really determine team composition.”

Moving into the second half of the fourth quarter, hungry for the win, the Warriors gained possession of the ball thanks to a fumble by Austin High, and were able to score again thanks to a 26 yard pass from Kimble to Doyle. This brought the score to 12-13. The Warriors needed a two point conversion to win, however the pass was unsuccessful ending the game with Austin High at a one point lead.

“I think we put it all out on the field” Nair said “and at least in the last quarter, put a good amount of effort into the game”

The JV orange team will face off against Mcneil in a thrilling match up, Thursday Sept. 11, at the Warrior Bowl.