Top-ranked Westside blew out Lincoln Northeast 56-0 in the last game of the regular season, The win over the Rockets finished out a perfect regular season with a record of 9-0. This was the fifth shutout for the Warrior defense. Head coach Paul Limongi reflected on the undefeated regular season.
“It’s a special thing, and the guys took one step at a time,” Limongi said.”One game at a time, never looked past anybody, focused on each opponent, lived in the present, so that shows a lot of maturity, and I’m very proud of that fact.”
The win was well rounded, with many reserves getting lots of playing time. Quarterback Anthony Rezac went one for one for 34 yards and a touchdown. Backup quarterback Quinton Warren went two for three for 41 yards and one touchdown. The third quarterback that played was freshman Braylen Warren, who had two completions for 15 yards. Rezac really liked what he saw out of the young quarterbacks.
“They both have grown a lot through the year,” Rezac said. “I’m excited to see what they continue to do and keep getting better.”
The Warriors had seven different people with a rushing attempt. Running back Jahmez Ross had five attempts for 58 yards and two touchdowns. Brody Goc had 47 yards and one score. Finn Christensen and Andrew Nielsen had one touchdown each as well.
In the air five players had one reception each. Ke’Vaughn Shannon and Keynan Cotton each had a receiving touchdown for the Warriors. Caleb Benning believes in all of the preparation.
“Just stick to the game plan, we try to get better each and every week no matter who the opponent is,” Benning said. “We’re always competing against ourselves and I feel like throughout practice this week we got better and showcased it this week.”
Benning had the only interception in the game for the Warriors. Benning also had a punt return that he ran down to the goal line and pitched it back to defensive lineman R.J Eckhardt for a touchdown.
“Well I got the interception and I heard his name then, but I couldn’t get it to him, so I knew R.J wanted it,” Benning said. “So I had to go find him and I found him. I’m glad he got his touchdown.”
Later in the first quarter Cotton caught a 34-yard touchdown on the first play of the drive. Ross tacked on his second touchdown of the game from seven yards out. Then Nielsen ran it in from four yards out to make it 35-0 at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter Goc scored the only touchdown on a 35-yard run.
In the third quarter Shannon caught a 33-yard touchdown pass and in the fourth quarter Christensen scored on a 19-yard touchdown run. Rezac said everything was going well during the game.
“Everything, I think we had a great week of preparation leading up to it, we knew what we had to do to get the job done,” Rezac said. ”Keep elevating every single week and we dominated up front.”
The Warriors will now head into the State Playoffs as the number one seed and the only undefeated team. The opening game will be against the No.16 seed Creighton Prep, who Westside defeated in the season opener on August 25th. The Warriors dominated that game winning 57-7, but the Junior Jays are now out for revenge.
“When you get in the playoffs it’s 0-0. It’s a new season,” Limongi said. “We have to reinvent ourselves a little bit and we can’t wait till gametime.”
Westside will host Creighton Prep at Phelps Field on Friday, Oct. 27.
