The Westside football team will travel to take on reigning state champion Millard North tonight. The Warriors are ranked No. 2 coming into the game and have beaten three currently ranked opponents, and knocked Millard South from the top 10. The team will look to add to its impressive résumé against No. 6 Millard North, which is 3-4 in arguably the toughest schedule of all of the teams in Nebraska.

Run-heavy Millard North has faced five teams that made the Oct. 14 Omaha World Herald top 10, along with Millard South in Kearney.  The Mustangs are 2-3 in the games against opponents who are in the top 10 this week. The team is on a two game win streak, after beating Papillion-LaVista 38-21 and Bellevue West 50-49 in an overtime thriller.

Westside is currently on a seven game win streak, giving it an undefeated season. The only close game of the season came against No. 4 Creighton Prep, who beat Millard North 21-13. Two weeks ago the Warriors made a case for the No. 1 ranking in a 47-0 thrashing of Millard South, a team that beat Millard North 20-16.

Despite Millard North’s losing record and Westside’s undefeated season, Millard North is still a powerhouse program.

“They’re Millard North, and they’re big, they’re strong and they’re fast,” said Westside head coach Brett Froendt. “They had six turnovers [in their 24-14 loss] against Millard West and two other situations that turned bad on them, and Millard West is one of the best teams in the state, and they should have won that game, so the record doesn’t mean a whole lot to us. They’re still Millard North, they still bring challenges that no other team possesses, so it’s tough to get ready, and we try to make the kids aware of that to start the week.”

To aid in the preparation against a tough opponent, senior offensive lineman Henry Dobson is returning to the starting lineup after a lower leg injury sustained earlier in the season.

“Henry is back,” Froendt said. “He’s looking good.”

Dobson will be in the lineup at right tackle, rather than his usual right guard. Senior Tom Young, who normally plays at left tackle, will fill the right guard position, while sophomore Dante Sortino will continue to start at center. Senior Nick Avis will continue to start at left guard and junior Connor Flairty will be at left tackle for the third week in a row.

Froendt said this lineup will give the Warriors extra power on the right side and quickness on the left. The lineup could continue next week, as well, depending on what the coaches observe during the game, according to Froendt.

“We’ll find out [if that combination continues],” Froendt said. “We like what we see but we haven’t seen them on the field at the same time.”

At the skill positions, the Warriors have been getting huge numbers from quarterback senior Christian Hagan and wide receiver senior Jamaal Conway-Smith. Hagan has passed for over 1,000 yards on the season, and Conway-Smith collected his third 100-yard game of the season last week against Omaha South. Froendt expects to see them continue to produce.

“That’s the plan,” Froendt said. “The idea in football is to get the ball to your playmakers and Christian’s a playmaker and so is Jamaal, so it’s important that Jamaal gets the football in different directions and in different ways. If we don’t do that we’re negligent as football staff, too. He’s a game-breaker. So is [running back senior] Drew Fitzmorris, so is [running back senior] Lane Yates, so is [wide receiver senior] Malek Pittman and that’s why we get the ball to those guys.”

The Warriors will need their key players to step up to get the win. The game is at Millard South at 7 p.m. The sun will set just before kickoff, and temperatures are expected to be in the low 50’s and upper 40’s for the game.

If you can’t make the game, follow us @westsidewired on Twitter for live updates of the game. We will have a recap of the game on Westside Wired on Monday if you miss the tweets or just want to find out more about the game.

Game Predictions:

Olivia Beier, Wired Sports Editor: 35-10, Warriors win.

Kate Stegman, Wired Sports Editor: 28-14, Warriors beat Millard North.

Aren Rendell, Wired Copy Editor: 31-3, Warriors take the win.

Tim Graves, the Lance Sports Editor: 34-10, Warriors.

The panel has spoken, and they say the Warriors will win! Go to the game to see if they are right!

Stats:

Westside

Christian Hagan (QB, K, P) #7: 80-116, 1009 Yds, 11 TD, 5 INT

Lane Yates (RB) #13: 80 Car, 522 Yds 8 TD

Drew Ftizmorris (RB, S) #28: 47 Car, 391 Yds, 7 TD

Jamaal Conway-Smith (WR, DB) #25: 29 Rec, 505 Yds, 4 TD

Malek Pittman (WR) #20: 13 Rec, 176 Yds, 4 TD