By Michael Adams
michael@otssports.com
The Vista Ridge Rangers were not the same team on Thursday night that lost to McNeil a week ago at Kelly Reeves Stadium.
Version 2.0 of the Rangers contained Demani Stewart and the explosive Westwood offense and defeated the Warriors 26-21 in the same stadium.
“They were hungry,” said Vista Ridge head coach Chad Scott. “They reset from last week. It’s easy to feel bad for yourself, but the team focused on what they needed to do and got it done.”
Westwood’s standout running back, Stewart, still had over 200 yards rushing and scored all three of the Warriors’ touchdowns. However, the Rangers’ defense kept the high-scoring Westwood offense under their season average of 40.8 points.
Vista Ridge (5-1, 2-1 District 25-6A) got a big night from night senior quarterback Jackson Arnot and running backs JD Jackson and Josaan Gains.
Arnot scored the game’s first points on a 30-yard run to put the Rangers up 6-0 with 7;23 left in the first quarter.
Westwood (4-2, 1-2) quickly respond on the Warriors first offensive play of the game with a 75-yard touchdown run by Stewart. The extra point from Pablo Zavala put Westwood ahead 7-6, a lead the Warriors held into the second quarter.
Stewart extended Westwood’s lead to 14-6 with a 2-yard touchdown with 9:30 left in the first half.
Arnot tied the game three minutes later with a 27-yard pass to senior James Hester and then converted the 2-point try with a scoring pass.
In the second quarter’s final minutes, Grant Anderson gave Vista Ridge a 20-14 lead with a 2-yard scoring run. However, kicker Clarence Deiparine’s extra point attempt bounced off the goal post.
Westwood drove the ball into the red zone in the final seconds of the first half with a chance to take the lead. Quarterback Owen Norrell had four straight incompletions.
“They made more plays than we did, and that’s really the difference,” said Westwood head coach Anthony Wood. “These were two evenly matched football teams. I thought we had a slight advantage on offense, but their offense played well, and they made plays when they needed to make plays.”
The Rangers extended their lead on their first possession of the second half. Arnot threw his second touchdown pass of the game, completing a 15-yard pass to Tian Murray to put the Rangers ahead 26-14. Deiparine missed the extra point attempt and was 0 for 3 for extra point kicks. His first attempt was blocked by the Warriors.
With three minutes left in the third quarter, Stewart scored on a 1-yard run to cut Vista Ridge’s lead to five points going into the final quarter. It ended up being the game’s last scoring play.
The loss is a setback in Westwood’s playoff hopes. However, the Warriors are far from out of the postseason picture.
“All we are looking at is our next game,” Wood said. “We know that next week is game seven and that is McNeil. All we are guaranteed is to play 10. If we want to play 11, we need to start winning district ball games.”
Westwood will play McNeil on Oct. 13 at Kelly Reeves Stadium, while Vista Ridge returns to Gupton Stadium to take on Stony Point. Both games will kick off at 7 p.m.