Football Wins it for HOCO

By: Nick Jamerson, Student Writer

On September 23rd, 2016 the St. Pius X Warriors faced off against the Warrensburg Tigers defeating them 28-13 in an enthralling 4 quarters of boy’s varsity football.

Offense lines up on the ten-yard line to prepare for their upcoming play in the last quarter of the football game. They needed to stay focused and play their best in order to secure their lead and eventually win their game. Photo by: Kristin Jacobsen

The Warriors were winning at halftime, holding back the Tigers 14-0 until the second quarter when Warrensburg scored 2 touchdowns and successfully got 2,  two point conversions gaining them 16 points. But Pius fought back scoring another 2 touchdowns and getting an interception on the 40 yard line by Junior Linebacker John Lillig.

“I was surprised and excited about the play. It gave the team some energy,” said Lillig.

This great Homecoming victory all started at the beginning of the week with a lot of hard work and dedication.

“We prepared all week by watching a lot of film, getting with the players, getting on the same page and knowing what our jobs were,” said head football coach Rick Byers.

Through the night, the fans became quite crazy cheering on the team to victory as the team ran all over the Warrensburg Tigers.

Junior quarterback Tommy Hoambrecker prepares to pass the ball to a player down the field in hopes of getting closer to the endzone to score a touchdown for the Warriors. The football players were under a lot of pressure to win their Homecoming Game and worked very hard to achieve their “W”. Photo by: Kristin Jacobsen

“Pius was making big stops on defense and every time they did, the crowd got fired up and that would excite the players, which caused more big plays,” said Senior fan Jose Cantu.

On the field, the defense was pushing the Tigers around making many big stops, while the offense was driving the ball down their throats gaining more than 100 yards rushing through the whole game. But the biggest gain was by the Special Teams crew.

“Special teams really set the tone, any time we got a big return it set everything in motion,” said Coach Byers.

The Warriors will take on the O’Hara Celtics today at O’Hara at 7 PM for the final Crystal Cup game that will determine which team will keep the cup forever.