The Tartars approached West’s field with the writing “WARRIOR COUNTRY” in bold gold lettering on the wall, since it wasn’t a home game they would certainly be in for a fight if they anticipated to win.

First quarter went almost perfectly for the Tartar team; frequently rotating the ball handler assured that the Warriors stayed on their toes and couldn’t find a pattern to devise a plan of attack against Torrance. On defense, linebacker Jake Silverman charged a West running back causing him to fumble the ball, and Silverman recovered it for his team. 

Together, wide receiver Philip Dragotto, quarterback Connor Shearing, linebacker Jake Silverman, and running backs Malikai Johson and Ryan Young collaborated in gaining 67 yards in the first quarter. At the end of the quarter, practically at the goal line, Shearing handed the ball off to Silverman who drove it 4 yards into the awaiting end zone making the first touchdown of the game.

The second quarter came along and the Tartars didn’t let up. When the clock cued another 12 minutes the intensity between teams on the field was evident. The Warriors made an attempt at a TD, but were halted by Torrance´s defense. The next play the Warriors tried again only to fumble the ball, and in an exciting turn of events Torrance defensive back Dylan Roybal recovered the fumble returning the ball to his team. 

 Once they had the ball back the team returned to their efforts at making more touchdowns to insure their victory. In an unfortunate mishap, with less than 3 minutes left on the clock, Torrance wide receiver Caden Ezawa was tackled and injured, sitting him out for the remainder of the first half. Coming through for the team, Shearing threw the ball to Young who caught it and swerved through the mob of Warriors for 21 yards until he reached the end zone; concluding the first half with a score of 14-0. 

In the third quarter the Warriors came back and shocked the crowd. Only 2 minutes into the quarter West Warriors made a play toward the end zone making it extremely close at the 5 yard line. At that point there was very little the Tartars could do, and as everyone expected in the next play the Warriors made their first touchdown. 

Even though the outcome was highly expected the crowd still erupted. As the attempt at an extra point was made there was a false start on the field, but a slight fiasco occurred as overseers debated which team the false start would be on. Ultimately there was no gain or loss to either side, yet the commotion must have gotten to West’s offensive line up because as the ball was snapped the holder fumbled the ball through the air losing the opportunity for an extra point all together.

As the game moved into the last quarter of the game, the clock showed a score of 14-7. West kicked off the ball to Torrance who were stopped at the 20 yard line. In the first play of the 4th quarter, immediately after the kick off Shearing threw a long pass to David Johnson who caught it and ran 80 yards directly to the end zone gaining 6 more points for the team! Even though the extra point was no good afterward, the Tartars ended up regaining possession of the ball, and with 7 minutes left kicker Christopher Ramirez successfully kicked a 30 yard field goal for an extra 3 points to add to their total score.

West was not at all pleased with the compromising position they had been put in, and as such they returned the favor by making another TD, boosting their score to 13 points. Almost in a repeat of minutes prior, once the ball was back in their hands, the Torrance offense ran a long play where Shearing handed the ball off to Young and the running back ran 50 yards straight to a touchdown. 

For the next and final 5 minutes of the game both teams remained with stagnant scores ending the game with a win for the Torrance Tartars with 30-13. 

Officially ending the first half of a 2 part finale to the  Torrance Football League Season! In a showdown to the finish Torrance Tartars defeated the West Warriors, swaying their chances to make it past league games into the playoffs. Now, students and staff alike are overly excited as if they beat the South Spartans they are sure to make it to the CIF Playoffs!