Football season is once again here and the Warrior football team this past Friday faced off against the Bellevue East Chieftains in their season opener. At home, the Warriors were able to get back to primetime football. Wide receiver Grant Tagge said he felt delighted to get back on the field and play.

“We’ve been practicing for three weeks and we were really tired of hitting each other so it’s really nice to get out there,” Tagge said.

The start of the game was a slow one for both teams as the Warriors held a 7-0 lead after the first quarter. However, in the second quarter the Warrior offense sparked into life with an early rushing touchdown by Junior Quarterback Cole Payton. Three minutes later, Westside scored again on an 11 yard touchdown pass to Caleb Carter to go up 14-0. After a short one-yard rushing touchdown by fullback Will Hurtado, the team would go into the half up 28-0.

The Warriors then started off the second half with Cedrian Haywood bringing back the opening kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown, pushing the lead to 35. As for the rest of the half, the Warriors mainly worked the clock and subbed many players in and out. In the end, Westside shut out the Chieftains 35-0 to get a week one victory. 

The Warriors defense was one part of their game that really stood out, keeping pressure on the Chieftains Quarterback Luke Johannsen all game long. The Warriors didn’t even allow the Chieftains to step a foot inside the redzone forcing Bellevue East to punt on multiple occasions. Junior Taylor Bruber acknowledged the role the defense had on the game.

“Our ability to read at the exact moment we need to and make the play was very important,” Bruber said.

With the victory the Warriors jump up to the #3 spot in the Class A rankings for this upcoming week. This Friday, September 6th, 2019, the Warriors will play the Monarchs of Papillion-La Vista looking to get their second victory.