In a fast-paced bout of renewed aggression, the Warriors faced their most anticipated rivals of the season, the Cedar Ridge Raiders, for an intense  Homecoming game on Friday Sept. 19. What began as a slow start morphed into a high-tension game with the Warriors pouring in power, strategy, and confidence to swiftly rack up points on the board. Although the teams remained neck and neck the majority of the game, the Raiders brought a last-minute surge of forceful offense that led to a disheartening Warrior loss 31-40. 

The night’s game held high tensions as the Warriors looked for an opportunity to bounce back from their crushing Mcneil loss. While the Warriors may not have claimed victory in the end, they exhibited newfound coordination, technique, and targeted growth on both offense and defense, putting up a valiant fight against the Raiders. 

“We proved today that we have all the talent there, we have all the might and the energy, all the juice,” Jack Kelley ‘26 said. “It’s just the small things we got to work on week in and week out, whether that’s special teams, some small mistakes on defense, some small mistakes on offense, but altogether, we’re there. We got a playoff contending team.”

Starting on offense, the Warriors begin their drive at their own 25 yard line, pushing swiftly past a robust Raider defense to claim a first down despite the commendable opposition. Assessing the season so far, offense has consistently displayed powerful aggression, however, this aggression alone wasn’t enough to win against a technique or strategy-oriented team. A turning point in the Warriors’ efforts, this game saw that aggression transformed into proactive plays that displayed how the Warriors were targeting their areas of growth and executing them on the field. For example, while the Warriors often relied on rushing plays — falling short on successful passes to enable movement down the field — last night, the Warriors showcased back-to-back complete passes, making good distance. 

“Our run game was very good today,” Zeke Brock ‘26 said. “We were able to carry the ball and we were able to play physical on offense. Some things we need to work on [though] are just finishing our games. We start out kind of slow and we just need to be able to start out fast.”

Defense also demonstrated massive growth from their shaky play against the Mavericks last week. They came back with a renewed sense of confidence and power, posing a solid line of defense against incoming Raiders. However, while Warrior defense pushed the Raiders consistently to third downs, the Raiders offense persevered and earned the first touchdown of the evening. With Warrior offense now on the field, they made steady progress, consistently making first or second downs. However as they inched closer to the end zone, Raider defense began testing offensive limits, by forcing the Warriors to third and fourth downs. However, the Warriors thrive under this pressure — a trend that stays consistent throughout the game. Cooper Waits ‘26 remains clear-headed, a quality that enables him to break through Raider defense, and prompt a facemask penalty on the Raiders. This earned the Warriors an additional 15 yard gain, and boosted their confidence as they peered closer to their endzone. However, with both teams still struggling to find solid footing against each other, the rest of the first quarter bleeding into the second saw both teams’ defense posing unavoidable barriers and both offenses getting pressured into incomplete passes.  

“[In terms of] strengths, I think we did a good job maintaining a flat line in terms of just keeping our composure,” Kelley said. “[If] something bad happened, we got back up and were ready to play. [If] something good happened, we didn’t get our heads up in the clouds, we were ready to play. [In terms of weaknesses], just small details, and that just comes with practice.”

With the Warrior offense shaky on the first and second downs, they riskily moved down the field in on-and-off bouts of rushing breakthroughs and occasional passes. However, the Raiders eventually capitalized on one of those weak first downs, intercepting the ball and winning a second touchdown. With the score not at 14-0, the growing point disparity triggered vigorous determination in Warrior offense; taking a strategy-first approach, the Warriors began using seamless fake passes and diversions that seemed to work until they lost that advantage to overly-rushed passes. However, the Warriors remain persistent, clearing through the defensive line with consistent third downs. Inching closer to the end zone, Warrior offense brought back their newfound complete passes, with Weston Franz ‘27 repeatedly making good catches. However, the Warriors began to fumble the ball, losing yards on the play. This forces them to go for a field goal on fourth down, getting their first points up on the board and bringing the score to 3-14. 

Continuing this bout of newfound strategy, the Warriors return on offense after the Raiders mirror their opponent with a field goal of their own. Exhibiting fluid teamwork to drive the ball effectively down the field, Colten Case ‘26 makes a huge run for Warrior offense, with Drew Norrell ‘26 catching a risky long pass, and Waits scoring an exceptional first down that brings the Warriors to the edge of the end zone. This series of bold movements is continued by a mighty touchdown by Wade Allen ‘26, and a powerful kick by Josh Jack ‘26, eliciting loud cheers from the student section. The Warriors finish off the second quarter with defense also ending strong, only allowing lateral, out-of-bounds Raider movement. 

“We just changed our mentality and had a lot of fire under our defense,” Brock said. “That was able to keep us closer in the ball game and make it more of a competitive game. Our goal was to beat [the Raiders] physically and [keep] that sharp physicality on offense and defense, and to beat them with our power.”

Returning from halftime, the Warriors continued their momentum, with defense successfully cutting off incoming Raider offense with a new strategy of repeatedly swarming the ball carrier. With defense relatively consistent in their efforts, it was now up to Warrior offense to tip the scales in their favor. Maps Mehis ‘28 makes an admirable, long-range catch, shooting down the field to close in towards the end zone. Gaining the advantage over their counterparts — Raider offense, Warrior offense took over the play and immediately scooped the ball to weave past defense. Executing a smooth blocking maneuver, this allowed Warrior offense to claim their second touchdown, again by Allen. 

“My 60 yard touchdown was [definitely] a highlight for me,” Allen said. “We’re a physical team, and we just [have] to carry that on every game.” 

The remainder of the game sees a rapid series of both teams putting their best foot forward, surging past one another to gain the lead. While Warrior defense only enabled Raider movement in small increments, the Raiders managed to tumble into their third touchdown of the night. This move was quickly mirrored by Warrior offense, with a long run by Allen and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Raiders bringing the Warriors closer to the targeted end zone. Culminating this effort, Waits swiftly passed the ball to Norrell, who swooped into the end zone to claim yet another Warrior touchdown.  With the score now at 23-27, the Warriors continued this momentum with an action-packed interception by Finn Chaney ‘26, who, spurred on by the boisterous cheering from the student section, shot into the end zone to mark another Warrior touchdown, and giving the Warriors their first lead of the night. Both offense and defense were on incredibly solid ground now, meshing power, technique, and confidence. However, the Warriors lost their lead almost immediately to a touchdown by the Raiders due to a shaky Warrior kicking team. 

“We ran the ball really well today, in the second half [especially], we turned it on, and later on in the game we did a nice job of getting stops,” Allen said. “We just struggled on special teams. We got to work on how we pass the ball and we need to work on special teams.”

With the Warriors now mourning the loss of their lead, offense becomes pressured into regaining it, losing some of their tactic in return for sheer aggression. However, this only resulted in incomplete passes, and the ball fumbling out of bounds. Meanwhile, the Raiders managed to score yet another unprovoked touchdown, surging past Warrior defense in a quick rush to the end zone. This growing point disparity paired with a ticking clock prevented Warrior offense from making any more significant progress, eventually falling short to the Raiders 30-41. 

“I thought we did amazing,” Josh Jack ‘26 said. “We didn’t give up, and I’m just excited for [Homecoming]. I saw a lot of people I know [show out here].”

The varsity football team will face off against the Hutto Hippos in their next home game on Thursday, Oct. 2.