The Westside varsity football team suffered a setback last week against the Burke Bulldogs. Against a winless team, the Warriors fell in overtime, ending their perfect district record and their three-game win streak. But with a win tonight, Westside could clinch a playoff berth and get back on track.

Unranked Westside (3-3) is taking on the unranked Columbus Discoverers (3-3) for the last Homecoming-week activity before the dance itself. Senior Ryan Golden, one of the team captains, said there will be added emotion because it is the Homecoming game.

“It’s always a hyped gamed due to all the alumni returning to watch and supporting their alma mater,” Golden said.

Assistant coach Rick McKeever said the extra emotions surrounding a Homecoming-week game are a positive thing.

“There’s a lot of things going on and there’s a pretty good atmosphere,” McKeever said. “I think the guys realize and are disappointed with some things that happened… It’s just a key game for us. We win and we’re making the playoffs. It’s a home game, it’s Homecoming, there’s going to be a lot of people there, it should be a nice night. All the factors are there.”

Regardless of emotions, Westside will need to look like the team that beat No. 7-ranked Grand Island rather than the team that lost to Burke if it wants to pick up a victory. Columbus is coming off of a 42-12 victory over Omaha South, and it boasts a fairly diverse offense with a dual-threat quarterback and a defense similar to Westside’s, with three down linemen and two outside linebackers coming down to build a five-man front.

“They have some good athletes that play hard and they’re a very formidable team,” McKeever said.

The Warriors are the favorite tonight, especially because on top of the added Homecoming motivation, the team is looking to bounce back from last weeks defeat.

“The emotions are wild this week,” Golden said. “Not just because of Homecoming… Coming off a tough loss, we’ve got to prove [something to] ourselves and to the state.”

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Westside. The theme for the game is “USA.” Westside Wired will be providing live updates of the game @westsidewired on Twitter, and we will have a LiveWired stream of the game.

Check back on Monday for a recap of the game and all of Homecoming week.