With the combined effort of both JV football teams facing off against only 14 of Manor’s players due to a scheduling conflict, the Warriors were able to defeat the Manor Mustangs 42-18. With the initial lead held by Manor in the first quarter, Westwood picked up the pace and surpassed the Mustangs.

“Our consistency today is our biggest change from the last game, and our biggest strength in this one” Head Coach Derek Ward said “I believe if we can continue to be consistent then we can get the ball rolling coming into the next game and so on”

Starting off the first quarter with some conflict for the Warriors, Manor was able to gain possession of the ball from Westwood after a failed push up the field into Manor territory. Then to add insult to injury, the Mustangs pushed up the field and scored on the Warriors halfway through the quarter but following their touchdown, the Mustangs failed their two point conversion attempt making the score 6-0. After another failed push by the Warriors and recovered fumble, Manor was able to score on the Warriors again.  However, the Warriors did not give up hope because in the last minute of the first quarter. Westwood offense was able to push up the field, charging through Manor Defense and scoring their first touchdown of the night. The final score of the first quarter was 12-8.

“Manor did have us at the start,” Andrew Lee ‘28 said. “I was thinking we might even lose to Manor, but we were able to pick up the pace and recover our score”

Heading into the second quarter, Manor had the possession of the ball and made a risky throw that was recovered by the Warriors. This sanctioned the Warriors next score giving Westwood a two point lead over Manor. Then on the 20 yard line Manor made a catastrophic fumble allowing  Levy Saldana ‘28 to recover the ball and gain possession back for the Warriors. Following the Warriors recovery, Blaine Kimble ’27  made a 37 yd pass to Anthony Page ‘27 who achieved the third touchdown for the Warriors bringing the score to 20-12. After a failed run by Manor, the Warriors once again received possession, they then pushed the ball up field and scored again as Manor’s defense began to crumble. After another failed push from Manor the Warriors were able to make their fourth touchdown of the quarter, which was followed by their fifth touchdown after Manor defense let up all efforts to contain the Warriors. The Manor Mustangs were then able to squeeze out a touchdown from the Warriors defense right at the end of the 2nd quarter making the score 36-18 going into halftime.

“I think the second quarter is solid proof that our practice is working,” Ward said. “We’ve had good consistency today.”

Coming into the third quarter, Westwood’s confidence was high. With heavy contention and strict defense being laid down by both sides, no points were scored on either side for the first six minutes of the third quarter. Breaking the scoring drought, Robert Garza ‘27 made a game solidifying pass to Noah Doyle ‘27 who then ran the ball to the endzone to score the final touchdown of the game, bringing the score to 42-18. 

Coming out of the third quarter, with such a large lead, Westwood began to relax on both offensive and defensive sides of the field. The first eight minutes of the quarter consisted of Manor getting the ball and unsuccessfully rushing it multiple times; this resulted in the ball getting recovered by the Warriors. Manor’s inability to regain a point lead after the first quarter is attributed to the physical toll of having such infrequent breaks due to the lack of players for the Mustangs. The quarterback took a knee ending the game with 13 seconds left on the clock solidifying a 42-18 win for the Warriors. 

“I think playing slower in the 3rd and 4th quarters was the right play since we got such a solid lead on Manor so early,” Giovanni Gonzalez ‘27 said. “I think if we can keep this momentum up we’ll really be able to do something this season”

The Warriors will face off against the Hutto Hippos in a thrilling match up, Wednesday, Oct. 1, at the Warrior Bowl.