The beginning of the football season for the West High Eagles started out pretty rough with a 1-3 record. After the first three losses, the Eagles only ended up losing one more game.

Heading into the state championship game the West boys ended up winning games against Colony High School, which the previous score was left 42-15 Colony.

West lost to Colony early in the season, and also lost to East in the beginning of the season with the final score of 28-14 East. Not only did the Eagles beat them the second time around, they were able to win the game on the other teams’ home field. These were the games leading into the State Championships.

Winning against teams they previously lost to really gave West the confidence to play Bartlett, especially the during the regular season when they played Bartlett and had a 19-0 lead in the first half and ended with the final score of 26-34 West. The West boys took this next game against Bartlett seriously being that it would give them the State Championship title. West went into the State Championship as the underdogs, and a lot people doubting them, even students at West. Even though they were discouraged, the West boys were able to prove these people wrong.

Throughout the state game the score was constantly going back and forth, making this a close and suspenseful game for both teams. Every touchdown and extra point really counted for each side, and West made sure to fight as hard as they could to get each and every point that they got.

West scored the first touchdown, really setting the mood for the game, making the defense ready to go out, and the offense to score some more. “All of our running backs had good runs, I mean even our wide receivers, after catching had good runs. Arthur, Savon, and myself had good runs that were definitely key late in the game. And our running game was definitely a big part of the game,” says Qyntyn Pilcher, the West Quarterback.

These boys all gained a great number of yards and really helped bring up the score and the confidence for their team. “The offense played really well, and helped the defense play just as hard, when they brought the score up”, say the West Middle Linebacker, Javin Iloilo. During the second quarter, Bartlett was able to tie up with West.

Both teams racked up 14 points, but by the 3rd and 4th quarter, the lead was continuously going back and forth between both teams. Bartlett scored 26 point in the second half, and West scored 19 points, giving the Golden Bears the State Championship title.

The Eagles had a fantastic season. “I’m just proud of my teammates, coming where were came from, we faced a lot of adversity, starting the season at 1-3, everyone counted us out and we went on to only lose one more game after that”, says Pilcher.