It was a perfect storm last week. Many students were out of town due to intersession and the cooler weather made it hard for those in town to want to show up to a football game on Q street. The result was a student section only two rows deep in one of the most important games of the season for the Westside football team: a matchup against Millard North.

“We haven’t had the greatest away games in terms of team display,” Kerkman said. “I would have liked to see more kids at the Millard North game.”

Though the away games are not the strongest for the Westside student section, the majority of the home games show potential.

“We have a lot of people show up during the home games,” senior Sam Kupka said.

Kerkman is pleased with the student section and how they conduct themselves during the games.

“I don’t think we’ve seen a student section of any other school that is bigger than ours,” Kerkman said. “They’re standing all game and being positive towards the other team.”

Westside’s home games this year have been against Creighton Prep, Grand Island, Omaha Benson and Omaha South. Though both Prep and Grand Island are strong teams, Omaha Benson and Omaha South were not top teams. Once the games became blow outs, the student section started to dwindle. Kupka sees the student section dwindle, but doesn’t see a major problem.

“I hate when people freak out about it,” Kupka said. “Who wants to watch a boring football game?”

The outlook for the rest of the games is positive. Tonight, the Warriors play at Papillion-LaVista South and then the state tournament starts. The Warriors are currently in second place behind Millard West in NSAA playoff points standings, which decide seeding. Winning against the Titans could give the Warriors a No. 1 seed which means they could be the home team throughout the playoffs.

“We have always had a huge following [in playoff games] — I mean huge,” Kerkman said. “I never forget my first year as athletic director [at Westside] when we played Lincoln Northeast. It was quite an atmosphere. That was about as good an atmosphere I’ve seen in a [Westside] football game.”

In a playoff home game, students will have to pay for admission. An activity pass will not grant students entrance to the game. Kupka is not worried about this affecting the strength of the student section.

“Let’s think back to the Prep game,” Kupka said. “Our student section was great that game. I think we’ll see similar, if not better, student sections for the playoffs.”

If Westside gets the No. 1 seed, they will play their first playoff game at Phelps Field. Whether or not the Warriors play at home the rest of the games will be dependent on how the other seeds play. Potentially, Westside could see themselves playing a Millard North, Creighton Prep, Millard West, Omaha North or Grand Island in the semifinals.

“You don’t want to look ahead at games but you know there could be another chance of us playing Creighton Prep or Millard North or Millard West,” Kerman said. “If we had a rematch with Creighton Prep, I can only imagine what that atmosphere will be like.”