For the first time since 2006, the Westside football team is headed to Lincoln for the Class A Football State Championship. Facing No. 1 seed Millard West, the Warriors were able to grab a win, despite early mistakes, with a solid defensive performance and big plays down the stretch.

Playing in front of packed bleachers with Warrior fans cheering, Westside scored the first points of the game on the opening drive. Senior Christian Hagan led the Warriors on a 10 play, 82-yard drive, capped off by a six-yard touchdown pass to senior Drew Fitzmorris. Neither team scored for the remainder of the first quarter.

Millard West put itself on the board when Wildcat senior Mike Brummer intercepted Hagan near the Westside 30-yard line and ran it in for a touchdown, tying the game at seven with 9:18 left in the first half. On the interception, Hagan was forced to scramble as the pocket broke down, and throw off-balance. The pass appeared to be short of its intended target.

On the next drive, Hagan threw his second interception of the game. Millard West senior Rick Pesek intercepted Hagan near mid-field, setting up the Wildcats at their own 48. Millard West drove to the Westside 11 before they were stopped on a third and eight, forcing them to the settle for a field goal, giving them a 10-7 advantage with 5:12 remaining in the first half.

After the two interceptions, Hagan was focused on keeping his poise.

“I mean, you just gotta keep confident and just keep battling,” Hagan said when asked what was going through his mind after the interceptions.

Hagan bounced back from the interceptions on the next drive, after a kick-off return by senior Cody Cramer to set the Warriors up at the Wildcats 46. Hagan completed a 32-yard touchdown pass to senior Malek Pittman for a touchdown, putting the Warriors up 14-10 with 3:32 remaining in the first half.

Westside head coach Brett Froendt was pleased with his quarterbacks ability to turn around his performance after the interceptions.

“[The ability to bounce back] says a lot about the kid, doesn’t it?” Froendt said. “Making mistakes like that and being able to pick his head up off the ground and still make plays for us — it says everything about him. Couldn’t be more proud of him.”

The score remained 14-10 going into the second half.

Millard West scored the first points of the second half when they went on an eight minute drive that resulted in a made 23-yard field goal, narrowing the gap to 14-13 with 26 seconds left in the third quarter.

After the Warriors went three-and-out, Millard West blocked the Westside punt, giving it the ball on the Westside 36-yard line. The Warrior’s defense held Millard West to a field goal, but Millard West was still able to take the lead, 16-14, with 8:13 remaining in the game.

The Millard West lead didn’t last long.

On the ensuing kickoff, Pittman returned the ball 27 yards to the Westside 43. From there, the Warriors got to the end zone in eight plays. In the red zone, senior Lane Yates carrying the ball seven yards for the score. Hagan completed the two-point conversion attempt to Pittman, giving the Warriors a 22-16 lead with 5 minutes remaining in the game.

The Wildcats started the next drive from their own 14-yard line. The drive ended on the seventh play when senior Kenny McDowell intercepted Millard West’s quarterback senior Ross Drwal on fourth and five.

With a drive starting on Millard West’s 22-yard line, Westside scored on the second play of the drive, when Yates carried the ball 20 yards into the endzone. The extra point attempt was blocked, leaving the Warriors up 28-16 with 57 seconds remaining in the game.

The Westside student section erupted after the interception and touchdown, and made its way towards the field, preparing to storm the field, as it appeared Westside had clinched the victory.

But the Warriors got one more scare.

Millard West senior Skylar Monaghan, one of the top receivers in the state, returned the kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown, cutting the lead to five with 53 seconds remaining.

Millard West lined up for an onside kick, but the Warriors recovered. Two kneels later, Westside had clinched the victory.

Froendt was complimentary of his offensive line, which faced one of the top defensive lines, led by Stanford recruit Harrison Phillips, in Nebraska.

“They shut our offense down for a while in the third quarter and dominated the third quarter with their offense, but our kids just kept plugging,” Froendt said. “They had faith and we made plays when we had to. [I’m] really proud of our offensive line and certainly our defense  did an awesome job tonight.”

The Warriors go on to play Calvin Strong led Omaha North, who beat Grand Island to move on to the state championship game. The game is Tuesday, Nov. 26 at 7 p.m. at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln.

Westside Wired will be bringing you information about the game next week.

Game notes

• Westside held Millard West to seven yards passing.
• Millard West receiver Skylar Monaghan was catch-less during the game.
• Hagan is 13 yards short of a 2,000 yard passing season.
• Yates broke the 1,000 yard rushing threshold during the game.
• Senior Jamaal Conway-Smith is 101 yards short of 1,000 receiving yards this season.
• If Hagan can throw for 13 or more yards and Conway-Smith can get 101 or more receiving yards in the state championship, the Warriors will have a 2,000 yard passer, 1,000 yard rusher and 1,000 yard receiver in the same season for the first time in Westside history.