On Friday Sept. 13, the Millard West Wildcats hosted the Westside Warriors at Buell Stadium as a rematch from last year’s state semifinals game.
The Wildcats came into the game 0-2 with a close loss to the Millard North Mustangs in week one 29-21. The following week the Wildcats got shut out by their Q Street rival the Millard South Patriots 56-0. The Warriors however have started the season 2-0 with two dominating wins against Omaha North (22-7) and Columbus (48-3). These two teams faced off in the state semifinals in the 2023-24 season where the warriors took care of business against the Cats 41-0. The Warriors would go on and win the State Championship against Elkhorn South 56-0.
The game started with a 19 yards kick return to the 35 yard line by former Wildcat junior Brycen Williams. The Warriors would march down the field in just under five minutes, converting a few first downs to open the scoring with 7:25 left in the first quarter. The Wildcats first drive would stall out around the 45 yard line. The second drive looked promising as the Warriors were starting to move down the field once again, but off of a pass deflection intended for Westside junior Eli Johnson the ball landed right in the hands of junior linebacker Jack Meeks at the Wildcats 22 yard line. The first quarter would end 7-0 in favor of the Warriors.
The second quarter would start with the Wildcats with possession around the 50 yard line following the interception that the Wildcat defense got late in the first. The drive would end with a 37 yard field goal by junior Carter Chapp cutting the lead down to 7-3. About half way through the quarter senior wideout Keynan Cotton would give the Warriors a 14-3 lead following a big run of 39 yards to the house. On the following drive the Wildcats would be forced to punt where senior punter Josh Lima received the snap in the turf and Williams was able to jump on top of the ball giving the Warriors great field possession at the Wildcat 28 yard line. The Wildcat defense was able to hold strong forcing a missed 45 field goal attempt by junior kicker Everest Scherlizin. The Warriors would have the lead going into halftime 14-3.
“The lineman improved a lot against Westside,” senior guard Brady McDonnell said. “We were getting off the ball better, playing faster and not playing soft. In week two we struggled a bit so we practiced really hard and it paid off. We’re not anywhere close to where we want to be as a group but as long as we get better every week, we will be a solid unit.”
The second half started with the Wildcats gaining great field position from the 35 yard return from senior wide receiver Bradyn Johnson. The first drive for the Cats looked impressive as they were starting to figure out how to move the ball effectively against the warriors. As the wildcats got further into warriors territory senior quarterback David James Schiemann would throw a pick to Williams at the five yard line ending the wildcats first drive. The wildcat defense would force a fumble on the very next play which was recovered at the 9 yard line. The Cats weren’t able to do anything in the red zone which would lead to a 20 yard field goal by senior kicker Collin Witte putting the Wildcats down eight with 6:30 left in the third. Sophomore quarterback Braylen Warren would lead the Warriors offense on a 68 yard drive that would end with Warren running a quarterback draw for a 6 yard touchdown extending the lead to 21-6 with about a minute left in the third period.
“Playing the best teams in the state makes us better as a team and me individually,” Schiemann said. “We competed pretty well with those teams. Now that we got the harder games out of the way, we know that we can compete with anybody but we still have to put in the work every week. The score at the end of each game might not be good, but we still get after it week in and week out. We are stronger together after these first three games then we were before them.”
The Wildcats started the fourth quarter with great field position at the Warrior 44 yard line. About a minute into the quarter the Wildcats ran a trick play with a pitch to senior running back Jake Blackman who would end up throwing down field to senior wide receiver Brennan Klaumann who was wide open at the 20 yard line and chased down at the six. On third and goal at the three yard line Schiemann would run right and was brought down at the one yard line but had to come out of the game for a play due to his helmet falling off leaving head coach Kirk Peterson with a decision to make. Millard West would go in and put Johnson in the wildcat where he would be stopped short of the goal line on a controversial call by the officials. On the following wildcat drive Schiemann would find Johnson 35 yards down the field for a touchdown making score 21-12 after a missed extra point for Witte with 3:14 left in the fourth.
“I think it’s mainly the connection me and my quarterback have been able to make,” Johnson said. “Everytime that I score you will notice that the team has done their job perfectly including the lineman, my quarterback, and the other skilled positions.”
The Cats would send the hands team out for an onside kick. The kick by Witte would hit senior linebacker Jake Phillips in the back five yards down field and bounced into the hands of senior lineman Jonny Hurtado who would take the ball to the endzone giving the warriors a 28-12 lead over the Cats. On the next possession for the Wildcats Schiemann would throw a pick six to senior linebacker Quinton Warren putting the game away with the warriors lead up to 22 with 2:26 left in the game. The Wildcats would start the season with a 0-3 record but showing no signs of defeat as they prepare to take on Creighton Prep on Thursday, Sept. 19th at Buell Stadium.
