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This past week, for the first time ever, Wayland played their DCL rival Weston during a Friday night football game. Over 300 students showed their enthusiasm by buying shirts to participate in the pre-game tailgate hosted by student council.

The Warriors started off strong scoring on their first drive of the game with senior Eric MacLean kicking a field goal to make the score 3-0. However, neither team could find much offensive momentum for almost the entire rest of the first half.

With less than a minute before half-time, junior quarterback Robert Jones found fellow junior tight end Andrew Straube for a touchdown. The score entering the second half was Wayland 10, Weston zero.

During Weston’s first drive in the third quarter, the Warriors defense, which had given up just 17 points in its last game against Norwood, forced Weston into a safety to give Wayland a 12-0 lead.

The Warriors defense in total forced three turnovers, and held Weston scoreless for the first three quarters. Sophomore Jimmy Lampert effectively covered Weston’s leading wide receiver.

“Weston’s top receiver has been burning teams left and right, and Jimmy made him a non-factor in his first Friday night game,” said senior Josh O’Neil, Director of Football Operations.

In the third quarter, senior running back Robert Williams ran for two touchdowns to extend the lead to 26-0. Williams had 103 yards rushing and 50 yards receiving for the night.

“The team brought a strong level of intensity and aggression during the game, and that helped us a lot,” Williams said.

A late Weston offensive surge in the fourth quarter allowed the Wildcats to score two touchdowns within 19 seconds of each other. However, it was not enough to erase the scoring gap.

“Our motto this year has been ‘finish,’” O’Neil said. “We’ve put it on the back of our shirts, and [Coach Parseghian] has made sure to emphasize it as much as possible. Coming out and finishing the game strong especially after they put up a bunch of points in a short amount of time was very important.”

To secure the win, sophomore running backs Wesley Jones and Michael Connell moved the Warriors all the way down the field, ending with Jones’ first varsity touchdown with two minutes left in the game. The final score was 33-13 Wayland.