A year removed from making it to the state championship football game, the Westside football team is returning to the NSAA Class A Football State Championship Tournament as the 12th-seeded team. But being seeded in the bottom half of the 16-team bracket is not phasing the Warriors, as they prepare to take on fifth-seeded Millard West tonight.

“As far as being the 12 seed, we haven’t payed much attention to it,” said senior Ryan Golden, one of the team’s two permanent captains. “We all know we are a good football team, and if we go out and play Warrior football, we will be alright.”

Much like the Warriors got a fresh start (one that concluded in a district championship) in district play after an 0-2 start to the season, tonight, the Warriors get a fresh start in the tournament. The only thing that matters is Millard West, and task No. 1 in coming away with a victory is to stop the Millard West rushing attack.

“They’re [running game is] just good,” head coach Brett Froendt said. “A lot of formations causes confusion for a lot of teams, and they run a lot of plays out of [multiple] formations, so it takes a lot to prepare for them. If [we’re] sound in [our] principles and the kids execute how they practice, we should be in great shape.”

That rushing attack is led by Thomas Russell, who has averaged almost 150 yards per game this season while scoring two touchdowns per contest. But the Wildcats are more than a one-weapon team. Along with Russell, the Wildcats have three other players averaging near or above 50 yards rushing per game, including Dylan Hughes, who had his best game of the season last week against Lincoln East. Hughes averaged 20 yards per carry on his way to a 120-yard, one-touchdown night.

But if the Warriors can stop Millard West’s ground game, the Warriors should be in for a good night. Millard West’s quarterback Logan Anderjaska is averaging only 62 yards per game throwing, and the team runs the ball 75 percent of the time.

On the other side of the ball, the Warriors will look to repeat the 60-point outburst they had against Fremont last week. In that game, the Warriors rode huge performances by running back senior Mitch Schenkelberg, quarterback junior Mitchell Hagan and wide receiver senior KaVon Neelon. Those players were involved in 376 of Westside’s 467 total yards.

For the first time this season, the Warriors will not start at 7 p.m. Because Buell Stadium at Millard South is the home field for all three Millard schools, Millard North will be kicking off at 4 p.m. The Westside game will follow at 7:30 p.m. Froendt said the start time will not affect the Warriors.

“We’ll be ready to go at 7:30 or 8 o’clock, whenever we have to play,” Froendt said.

The gates to enter the game will be opened at 6:45 p.m., assuming the Millard North game ends in time to allow it. Students will be sitting in the stadium’s northeast corner bleachers. All students will be subjected to AlcoBlow sensors to enter the game.

The theme for the student section is “Costumes,” so wear your Halloween attire.

If you can’t make it to the game, follow @westsidewired on Twitter for live updates of the game. Check back on Monday for a full recap of the game.