The Bulldog football team won an unforeseen 21-17 victory against the number one team in the state, Omaha Westside, on Sept. 30. 

The team was confident, stepping out onto the field to battle Omaha Westside. Head Coach Kurt Altig had instilled confidence in their brand of football in the practices leading up to the game, and he hoped to give them the belief that Bulldog football would defeat the feared Westside team.

Despite the team’s belief that they could win, many others weren’t convinced. “Even the people we went to school with thought that we wouldn’t be able to win,” wide receiver Carson LaChapelle said. “It felt good to shock the state.”

“I thought it was gonna be a dogfight. And it turned out to be that way,” senior right guard Peyton Dimmitt said. “We knew they were a really good team, but we did feel we could beat them if we played our very best game, which turns out we did.”

Altig believes his entire team played the best that they could, and really nobody stood out more than the team as a whole. 

“Although we relied heavily on our senior leaders, Kolten Tilford, Brock Roblee and Caleb Kinkaid, almost every player that played has a highlight from that game,” Altig said. “I feel super proud of our boys. It was a fantastic feeling.”

The Westside win really helped inspire the Bulldog football team, and encouraged them to work harder throughout the season. 

“That was a really good win and I think it really helps raise our confidence and show us that we can do some things when we set our minds to it,” Dimmitt said.

Sophomore quarterback Caden Joneson felt this game was going to be special before he even threw the ball for the first time. “I had a weird feeling that something crazy was gonna happen,” Joneson said. “I knew once on the field and all the nerves settled down it was gonna be a great game.”

Dimmit believed that because the boys on the team stuck to their own assignments, it caused a better outcome for the team altogether. 

“In the past, when we would lose we would oftentimes have someone miss their assignment or try to do too much and then that would just make our entire team crumble,” he said.

Since COVID, the amount of spectators at Bulldog activities has gone down and hasn’t raised much yet. But because of the defeat of the infamous Omaha Westside Warriors, the Bulldogs may be seeing an increase in spectators at their games and other school events. 

“I think you’re going to start seeing people coming back to the games. They want to come check out what the Bulldogs are doing,” Activities Director Jimmie Rhodes said. “I think that’s a huge compliment to Coach Altig, and him being a first-year coach.”

The Bulldogs plan to use this win to fuel them against other teams in the near future and work harder in all their games, no matter how good or bad the rival team is on paper. “It’s kind of a precedent for us as well to work harder,” Dimmit said.

This doesn’t seem to be the end of great games for the Bulldogs:

Lincoln Northeast, Oct. 6—56-7 

Norfolk, Oct. 14—24-13 

Papillion La-Vista, Oct. 21—36-29

The Papillion La-Vista game marked the end of regular-season play.

The Bulldogs are set to host the first round of district play-offs with Creighton Prep at Bauer Field tonight (Oct. 28) with a 7 p.m. kick-off time.