The season opener, West Branch Warriors vs. Everett Warriors, took place at LT Drivus Field on Friday, August 22, 2025. The West Branch Warriors fell to the Everett Warriors 34-12, delivering the West Branch Warriors their first loss of the season.
Both teams had a tough first quarter as they combined a total of six points, with Everett on a big 67-yard run by senior Jakobe Harman to break open the game. The second quarter was a shootout with two quick drives resulting in seven points for both teams. The rest of the second quarter was a battle with tons of explosive plays and tons of unfortunate plays, and lots of turnovers with West Branch QB Conner Danko throwing two picks and losing a fumble. Everett’s QB, Jonathan Cooper, threw two interceptions.
Still, the story of the quarter was Everett’s Jakobe Harman and senior Gavin Goodrich getting a long 60-yard touchdown reception, and Harman rushing for 109 yards and a touchdown. West Branch had a lot of ground to make up. And it started with a big touchdown catch by junior Brayden Williamson, taking it 60 yards for a touchdown, along with Coby Kephart getting a kick return touchdown to put the Warriors down 34-21 going into the second half, as that would be the story of the night for both teams not scoring at all in the 3rd or 4th ending the game 34-21.
Enough can be said about Cameron County as the Warriors hit the road to face the Red Raiders. The Warriors came back defeated with an unsatisfying taste in their mouth, losing 54-7. In the first quarter, junior Frankie Leskovansky ploughed forward for 27 yards, getting the Warriors on the goal line, and allowing Conner Danko to punch it in on the goal line with a 2-yard QB draw. Still, the Raiders answered back quickly as the Warriors couldn’t stop their run game. It proved too much for the Warriors, as that’s how it would be all game, as the Raiders rushed for a total of 391 yards and 4 rushing touchdowns. The Raiders also scored two passing touchdowns and one kick return touchdown, putting the final score at 54-7.
“We showed time when we played good ball,” said Conner Danko on the Everett game. “But we have to stick together as one and keep fighting. And get rid of the mental mistakes we made the first 2 weeks, and when we get rid of those, we’ll be a good ball team.”
“It was a rough night,” says Hansen Lannen on the Cameron County game. “That’s what happens when you can’t tackle. Football is a game of many things out of your control. The only thing that you can control all the time is your attitude and your effort. What happened, happened. Moving forward, we need a better attitude and effort.”
