On a neon-themed homecoming game, the Warrior football team shined bright.Westside brought home another victory Friday night by beating unranked Benson 63-7.

“We just came out and took care of business right away,” said head coach Brett Froendt. “I mean, we needed to come out and play hard and play our brand of football, and we did that, so I was proud of the guys.”

To get things going, senior Lane yates scored on a two-yard run with 10 minutes left in the first quarter, and again with a 40-yard run with seven minutes left in the first quarter. Both extra points were good.

Thirty seconds later, senior Matt Connelly recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown. Then, after a Benson interception, senior Zach Lehr blocked a Benson punt, and senior Hanco Germishuys recovered the ball and ran it in for a touchdown with 4:41 left in the first quarter to give the Warriors a 28-0 lead.

With a minute left in the first, Yates ran the ball three yards for a touchdown, to put the Warriors up 35-0. Yates finished with 67 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

After starting the drive on Bensons 27 yard line, senior Christian Hagan, who went 5-8 passing and threw for 38 yards, one touchdown and one interception, connected with senior Jack Matt for a 5-yard touchdown pass to bring the lead to 35-0 with 11 minutes left in the second quarter.

Then, the Warriors stopped Benson on fourth down with nine minutes left in the half, and drove the ball down the field until sophomore Logan Duryee ran for a 10-yard touchdown with nine minutes left in the half. Then, after a fumble recovery by senior Demarkus Scott, Duryee punched it in again for another ten yard run put the score at 56-0 Westside with 6:30 still left in the half. The touchdowns were Duryee’s first and second of the year.

Westside scored one more touchdown with 1:30 left in the half when Scott ran it in for 7 yards, giving the Warriors a 63-0 lead. Then, with 15 seconds left in the half, Benson quarterback Jayden Swensen gave Benson their first and only points of the game by running it in for a score, making the score 63-7.

After the first half, neither team scored any more points, with the final score being 63-7 Westside.

In the game, the Warrior defense amassed five sacks, three fumble recoveries, two touchdowns and one interception.

The Westside offense gained 258 total yards, while Benson put up only 178 yards.

Westside moves to 5-0 on the season, and 1-0

Froendt said the team will need to improve for next weeks game against No. 10 ranked Millard South.

“We gotta pick up our intensity, and pick up our speed and our execution,” Froendt said. “There’s still a lot of things that we don’t do well, and we’re going to face a good opponent next week.

The game is at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4, at Millard South. Check Westside Wired on Friday for a preview of the game.