September eighth was a beautiful, sunny, seventy degree day. Not exactly football weather.

Football, none the less, was what ensued. The Lions opened their season at home, hosting Seneca High School in what was shaping up to be a hard fought contest.

This year’s team is almost unrecognizable when compared to that of last, as the Lions did not return any of their eleven starters on defense, and returned only three on offense. Regardless, the new look Lions proved they know how to fight.

Seneca and West traded blows throughout the game, with the lead changing hands multiple times. The Lions headed into the field house at half time only trailing by a field goal, and you could have never noticed they were losing.

Energy was in abundance, and all attention was on making adjustments to Seneca’s gameplan. Coach Brian Wright’s halftime speech was specifically built upon the necessity to continue the energy and tenacity that was brought in the first half.

The second half consisted of each team trading blows. West and Seneca each scored one time in the third quarter and in the fourth quarter, adding fourteen points to each of their scoring efforts. As time winded down, West failed to complete a crucial conversion, giving the ball back to Seneca. The Lions no longer had any timeouts, and Seneca was free to run the clock down to zero, with a final score of West 28, Seneca 31.

High Points:

Ground Game

The Lion’s running game was very effective, scoring twice on the ground. West took advantage of their entire backfield, giving the ball to junior running backs Mike Alberto and Carlos Gomez, and senior fullback Josh Stephens. Quarterback Monty Williams also carried the ball very effectively, converting multiple 3rd downs and scoring a touchdown on the ground. Alberto would finish as the rushing leader with 109 yards and a touchdown.

Protection

It is easily arguable that the quarterback is the most important player on the field. Making the task of the offensive line -keeping their QB Monty Williams upright- an incredibly important one. Despite low yardage numbers from the Lion’s passing game, Williams was given plenty of time to assess coverages on pass plays, and rarely pressured.

Rushing the Passer

West is entering their second season with their new, odd front 3-4 defense. A defense which allows for a steady flow of Lions to attack the opposing team’s QB, and disrupt any other action in the backfield. Operating under this scheme, West recorded three sacks and constantly pressured Seneca’s QB. Junior Dorian Davis lead the charge with two sacks.

Taking Back the Football

The Lions took the ball from Seneca an impressive five times during their game. Doing so with three interceptions, a fumble recovery, and by recovering one of their own kickoffs. These pivotal turnovers kept the Lions in the game, and allowed them the consistently steal the momentum back from Seneca. Naiem Simmons recorded two of the three interceptions, and returned them for a total of 159 yards.

Notable Stats:

Junior RB/OLB Mike Alberto 109 rushing yard and 1 TD

Junior WR/CB Naiem Simmons 2 TD catches and 2 INTs

Junior QB/DB Monty Williams only 27 passing yard but threw 2 TDs and rushed for 2 first downs and a TD

Junior DL Dorian Davis 2 sacks

Johnny Ioannucci INT