With their first loss of the season, the Warriors faced off against the Leander Lions (1-2) with a final score of 24-28. The Tribe came out to show their support by wearing jerseys, and brought spirit to the players to help them keep their heads high throughout the game.

“It’s cool to see how far they’ve come since last year,” Axel Adair ‘17 said. “I know the Warriors put in a lot of hard work over the off season and you can definitely tell that their efforts are paying off. The Tribe is an incredible atmosphere. It’s also really fun to come out to  games and support the different Westwood teams. During the game I didn’t really have outright favorite part but there a lot of high points last night. Our football team played well last night, despite not winning, they  had a very good game and were fun to watch. Also, it was awesome to see such a big turnout for an away game, I know the players appreciate the support and I hope we can get that many people at every game for the rest season.”

Shortly after the game had begun, the Lions went for a field goal kick with four and 10 to go at the 30, and the ball inevitably bounced out. Following this, with 7:41 left on the clock, Te’shon McGinnis ‘17 catch was good for a Warrior first down. Afterwards, the Lions rushed quarterback Will Jennings ‘18, forcing him to run the ball four yards resulting in a penalty. Jennings then handed the ball off to running back Prince Ugwu ‘17 to gain another 30 yards. With 4:56 now on the board, Jennings threw a complete pass to wide receiver Dylan Frazier ‘18 for the first touchdown of the game. The Lions cornerback then tipped the ball to Westwood’s DB Michael Austin ‘17 for an interception. Shortly following this, the Lions scored, ending the quarter tied at 7-7.

“I think the loss was disappointing but it’s good to lose a game so we are able to bounce back,” Frazier said. “And be able to come back even better. I think the best part of the game was the first drive we scored, it felt like the spark of the fire. For the entirety of the game, I believe I played consistently well, I got seven catches for 62 yards.”

At the top of the second, Jennings was rushed out of bounds by the Lions at 9:41 on the third down and 10 to go with a loss of one. Only eight seconds later, Frazier caught a first down at the 40 yard line. Following this, wide receiver Aiden Asal ‘17 caught the first touchdown of the quarter putting the score at 14-7. With 6:16 now on the clock, Colton Hixson ‘17 caught a fumble recovery resulting in Westwood’s possession of the ball. Now with 4:32 on the clock, Ugwu ran the ball 40 yards for a Warrior first down. Shortly after, the Warriors threw an interception resulting in a touchdown for the Lions. Now at 1:14 on the clock, the Warriors call their first timeout of the half. About 10 seconds later they called their second timeout. Eight seconds later, wide receiver Ethan King ‘17 intercepted a pass intended for the Lions with a fourth down and 8 yards to go. The final score at half-time was 14-14.

“I think this loss will help Westwood football grow as a team and walk with more confidence than arrogance,” Colton Cooper ‘17 said. “The best part of the game was Colton Hixson’s interception because he’s a legend and picked off a ball with a cast. Pick sixen. For this game, I thought that of what time I got to play I did my job.”

At the top of the second half, the Lions got ball first and after about a minute and 20 seconds, the Lions punted the ball to McGinnis. Now on the third down with six yards to go, Ugwu received a handoff from Jennings to run 15 yards for a Warrior first down. Now at 5:25 on the clock, Miles Webber ‘17 tackled an offensive wide receiver for the Lions resulting in a loss of 10 yards. With 4:30 on the clock, Ugwu ran 24 yards to get another Warrior first down. On the fourth down the Warriors decided to attempt a field goal kicked by Kaden Roberts ‘18, bringing the score to 24-14. Now with only 1:03 left of the quarter, Hixson caught the second interception of the game resulting in a turnover.

“It was a really hard loss because we felt like it was a game we could have won,” Hixson said. “The best part was definitely just going out and play with all my teammates because I had just broken my hand a week ago and wasn’t even sure if I was gonna play so it was a great feeling to go out and play with all my brothers. I think I played pretty well even though I made a few mistakes.  I caused a few turnovers which was really exciting.  It was also my first time playing with my cast and I was unsure how it would go so it was pretty crazy that I actually got that interception.”

The Warriors started out strong for the final quarter with a great tackle by Ethan Twining ‘17 and Aaron Gonzales ‘17 blocking a pass from being received to the Lions. At 8:08, the Lions scored and Frazier caught the punt return. Four seconds later, Jaikem Murphy ‘18 got hurt and was in the middle of the field before getting up and walking off the field with little assistance. Now on the fourth down with two to go, Jennings kicked the ball out of bounds to avoid a 10 yard bonus for the Lions. Following this with 3:45 on the clock, the Lions scored the final touchdown of the game. The final score was then 24-28.

“We were outplayed at the point of attack,” Coach Anthony Wood said. “They won the battle on the OL and DL. We will get back to the basics and work hard on technique. I was happy with our 3rd quarter play where we outscored them 10-0. Anytime you do not get the results you want, you will be able to find out what type of team you have by how you handle a loss. This team was very disappointed and I believe they will come out next week and perform at a level they are used to.”

Come out and support the Warriors on Sept. 16, as they face off against Vista Ridge High School for the Warriors’ homecoming game at 7 p.m. Go Wood.