The Westside Warriors remain undefeated after beating the Millard South Patriots with a score of 35-33 last Friday, Nov. 13.  Westside will now compete in the 2020 State Championship game in back-to-back years.

Coming into this week, the Warriors have won every game this year by at least 20 points. This week would be a much different story. Millard South was the most evenly matched team for the Warriors this season. The scoring throughout the game was consistent for both teams, with Millard South only coming up short by two points. Sophomore Jackson McyIntre says Millard South’s drive is what drove them.

“Playing against a good team is always fun and even better when the game is close. It just makes us push ourselves more than the opponent can,” McIntyre said.

The entire game was full of lead changes. The Warriors fell short in the first quarter 7-9 then fought back in the second quarter with a five-point lead. Throughout the second half, it was evenly matched with the scoring in the last two quarters. Each team scoring a touchdown in the third quarter then scoring another touchdown in the fourth with a failed field goal attempt by the Warriors. The Warriors capped off their five-plus minute drive with a Dominic Rezac 34-yard game-winning touchdown. Millard South got the ball back, down by 2, with a little over three minutes left. The Warriors defense knew they had to come up with the stop. 

“After we scored, our defense all knew we had to play the hardest and most physical we have ever played before. We knew they wanted to pass with little time left, and, with the help of everyone on our defense, we forced them to come up short,” McIntyre said. 

Throughout the game, Millard South made some good plays to stop the Warriors from scoring. But Westside also handed them some yards with errors made on the field. These mistakes could have cost them the chance at a championship game. Millard South and Westside both showed up and showed that each of these two teams deserves to be on the field fighting for the shot at becoming champions.

“First and foremost, that is a fantastic team we just played against. [Millard South] caused us to make some errors at big moments at the beginning of the game. We had some errors on our own that we kinda gave them some opportunities,” said Coach Craig Secora. 

Westside hopes to come out victorious and hold their undefeated record. They will look to end a 38-year State Championship drought.

“The last ten years don’t matter, last year that’s a different year. This is a different team, so we just got to continue what has brought us here and for our team, that is to fire off the ball, fight, win your battles, finish every play, don’t take a playoff in your assignments, and follow the game plan. That’s what we’ve been trying to do all season long, and it’s been working for us, and were going to have to keep doing that as the next game happens,” Secora said. 

The Westside Warriors will be facing off against the Elkhorn South Storm this Friday, Nov. 20, for the State title at 7 p.m. at Phelps Field.