Pouring in a season’s worth of power, discipline, spirit, and strategy, the varsity football team put their best foot forward in the last game of the season against the Vista Ridge Rangers on Friday, Nov. 7. Despite recovering from a slow start with a high-intensity precision game, the Warriors fell short by a point disparity of merely four points, 34-38. 

“I mean, we were really encouraged and it was a great game,” Asher David ‘26 said. “We scored all the points on offense and, I mean, we could have gotten the win, but obviously [even though] it wasn’t as successful as we wanted it to be, there were a lot of good moments in there. [Both] personally and as a team, we showed great growth over the season, and that was really good to see.”

Interestingly, the initial tone of the game was bleak, with both defense and offense commencing shakily. Warrior defense encountered a hardy passing game from the Rangers, resulting in difficulty tamping down their movement across the field. Utilizing swarming strategies to make up for a weak man-on-man coverage, Warrior defense delayed Ranger progress but didn’t effectively stop them. Finding their footing under pressure, Warrior defense began executing powerful tackles on the Ranger offense, but only after complete passes had been made. While the Warriors held the Rangers from achieving a touchdown, this stalemate led to an upsetting compromise for the Warriors, with the Rangers making a successful field goal attempt, 0-3. Following the field goal, the Warriors held possession of the ball but were unable to convert. Because of a slow offensive pick up the Rangers quickly received possession of the football once again, and resulted in a disappointing Ranger touchdown, bringing the score to a 0-10. 

Honing their strategy under this building pressure, Warrior offense ramped up their passing attempts aggressively, with consistent pass attempts to Drew Norrell ‘26 and Weston Franz ‘27. These passes brimmed with power and direction, but lacked a degree of precision, which would build up throughout the first quarter to perfect the Warriors’ passing game for the rest of the evening. This phenomenon was foreshadowed at the cusp of the first quarter, when a large complete pass to Franz swiftly maneuvering past Ranger defense led to a powerful first touchdown of the night, closing the disparity to 7-10. 

“We got down early, and we fought back by working together,” Franz said. “We knew that they wanted to score a lot because they’re a good offensive team, so we were going to have to keep up with them by passing. Because we started passing the ball and we were spreading it around.”

With this unprecedentedly vigorous passing game becoming a constant variable for the rest of the night, this final game exhibited an interesting shift from the usual season’s trend: the Warriors relied predominantly on their passing, while openly struggling and limiting their rushing game. Franz played a pivotal role in racking up Warrior points, especially by building a seamless partnership with Cooper Waits ‘27 to catch multiple long passes down the field. This bilateral effort single-handedly drove multiple Warrior first downs, an endeavor that ended strongly with a touchdown by Maps Mehis ‘28 following a deep pass into the endzone at 3rd and 12, pulling the score up 14-17. 

“It’s not just receivers or the quarterback, the O-line [also] played really well, so [these efforts] was an overall team thing,” Mehis said. “They had a lot of penalties and that also increased our chances our first, [after which] we had a lot of first downs. Throughout practice, we always worked on that kind of stuff, and we had some good new play calls to add in; by [calling] the right ones at the right time, we ran the right rounds and everything worked out.”

Offense continued their aggressive streak following a crowd-rousing display by the special teams unit that recovered a Rangers’ offside kick to fuel a comeback for the Warriors. Ushered on by a Ranger pass interference penalty, the Warriors leaned on their superb passing game to secure their third touchdown via a long, downfield pass from Waits to David, putting them in the lead 21-17. 

“We did a really good job of staying even-keeled through the game,” David said. “They had some big plays, we had some big plays, but I think that we did a good job of trying to bounce back and play more complimentary football. We haven’t done a great job on that this year, but we did better in this game.”

Building off the bubbling momentum of the first half, Warrior offense started the third quarter strong and spirited, strategically recovering from starting their drive on the eight yard line due to a holding penalty. Despite starting so far down the field, the Warriors made considerably rapid progress, securing back-to-back first downs through passes to Norrell, Franz, and Wade Allen ‘26. Claiming a touchdown of his own, Allen rallied past a robust offensive line to rush into the endzone, raising the score to a commendable 27-17. 

“Our strengths [this game] was definitely playing as a team and fighting all the way through to the end,” Mehis said. “We had a lot of challenges to come through, and from week one to now, we definitely improved offensively and defensively. We’re constantly working through adversity, and personally, I thought I had a good season: I think it’s definitely a different environment to be on varsity.”

As the Warriors began to ease up and the Rangers simultaneously pushed to get desperately needed points, the bulk of the quarter saw slow play. A slight hiccup in Warrior defense led the Rangers dangerously close to the endzone, a fear that manifested into a Ranger touchdown closing in the score, 27-24. The Warriors fleeting lead was soon lost to a Ranger interception that ended in an upsetting touchdown, 27-31. This rapid turn of events cut deep into Warrior offense’s momentum, leading to loss of yards on the play, incomplete passes, and consistent fourth downs. Commencing the final quarter, defense mirrored this halfhearted effort by allowing decent Ranger movement down the field. 

“They got up early on us and we were able to climb back in and get back into the game,” David said. “We knew that the passing game was going to be more into play this week so we did practice more. We assumed that they’d give us one-on-on the outside and they did. But, we were prepared for that and we took advantage of it.”

Under pressure, both offense and defense fumbled to recover their upper hand. Finally, a striking interception by Dre Kyles ‘28 broke the Warriors out of their slump and deposited them at the opposing 31 yard line. This wave of Warrior power revitalized energy, and forced the Rangers tactics to come crashing down after a massive pass to Norrell, who glided into the end zone to up the Warriors 34-31. The remainder of the Warriors’ play was dominated by defense attempting to stall the Rangers and the offense toggling between incomplete and complete passes to make reasonable movement up and down the field. However, a single mistake on defense cost the Warriors the game: despite a powerful punt and Westwood covering the kick at the two yard line, the Rangers executed a skilled play, allowing them to run 98 yards on first down to score a pivotal touchdown, bringing the final score to 34-38. 

“When they get big plays, the momentum definitely swings, and it affects us negatively, but we can overcome it with great mental skills to make it more positive,” Norrell said. “Overall, it was fun, it was a good game. We didn’t win, and yeah, it was pretty sad, but, you know, it was fun going one last time with everyone. The team has grown: we got better through the season, and we trusted each other more.”

As the final game of the season, the evening’s play marked a key moment for the team and especially its seniors, who’ve dedicated upwards of four years to the sport. The budding successes, strategies, discipline, and attitudes of the team will continue on in the sophomores and juniors, as they shoot for better seasons in the year to come.