On September 19th, the West High Warriors played the Torrance Tartars on a foggy Thursday evening at the West High stadium. Coming off a disappointing 28-14 loss against Culver City in their season opener, the Warriors showed their toughness behind a physical offense and a steady defensive effort. The first points of the game occurred when West’s Captain Taylor Gimian (12) forced a fumble, picked the football, and returned it for a touchdown. Barry Thomas (10), the team’s running back, also contributed when he scored on a rushing touchdown momentarily after the fumble. Finally, quarterback Austin Watters (12) threw a touchdown pass to wide receiver David Rodriguez (12) to give West High 21 points; however, the Tartars did not make it easy. Behind several big plays, they were able to keep the game close at halftime trailing 14-21.

Despite their best efforts, Torrance High did not score after halftime and West sealed their first win of the season behind another rushing effort by Thomas from the one- yard line. Asanka Jayawardena (11), a first-year defensive end, thought the highlight of the game was when Gimian forced the fumble and scored. “We got our momentum because of that and it really allowed us to win the game.”

Even though they were victorious, the Warriors received a big blow to their offense when Logan White (12) suffered an injury and is expected to be out indefinitely. Jayawardena shared his thoughts on White’s injury. “Losing Captain Logan White hurts our offense, but we have other players that can step up and fill in for him.” The other player injured was Josh Giradini (12), who has a sprained ankle, but is still expected to play against El Segundo next week.

Although they achieved victory over their neighboring rival, the Warriors understand that they have a tough road to win the Bay League. Yet their recent performance may serve as a preview for a great season.