After shutting out the Bellevue East Chieftains, the Warriors come into week two up against the Papillion-La Vista Monarchs. The Monarchs this year have a new head coach Tim Williams who coached five seasons at Class B Waverly. The team also brought back four starters on the offensive line as well another four starters on the defensive line. Last week the team fell victim to their rival in Papio South 42-14 and are looking to get back on the right foot. The Warriors, however, blew out the Chieftains of Bellevue East 35-0 last week and want to get to 2-0. After the week one win the Warriors jumped up to the number three spot in the World-Herald Rankings thanks to the Burke Bulldogs taking down the Lincoln Southeast Knights.

The Warriors had a lot of positive things come from their debut win against Bellevue East. However, Papillion is a new and better opponent. Head Coach Brett Froendt saw a lot in the team’s week one victory and hopes that the team can be even better in preparing for Papillion.

“Not having mistakes the first game helps a lot,” Froendt said. “The effort was good but needs to be great and there are some things we need to work on to become a better team because Papio is a better team.”

The Warrior’s defense came out in week one and got another shutout. They are looking to stay as dominant as they were last season. Junior defensive back Avante Dickerson knows what it takes for the defense to have the best shot at getting another shutout.

“[We have to] be ourselves, not doing too much,” Dickerson said. “Doing what you can do to make plays on the ball and working hard.”

A big thing the Warrior coaching staff has pushed to stick into the players’ minds this season is the values of brotherhood and camaraderie. These values come from the team’s culture playbook and Dickerson has really bought into it, enjoying the relationship he has with his fellow teammates.

“Playing with my teammates is exciting,” he said. “Being around all of them [as well as] being on the field at the same time and winning with your teammates is a good feeling.”

The closer the brotherhood, the better the communication. The better the communication, the better play on the field and the better the play on the field the better chance the Warriors give themselves to get a week two victory. 

Tonight’s game will start at 7 PM on Phelps Field at Westside High School. Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for students and can also be watched on Yurview on Cox Cable or online at Yurview.com.