With the Steinbrenner Warriors football season under way, let’s take a look back at the first half of the season. So far, the 2023 season has had its ups and downs. Starting against the Gaither Cowboys on August 25th. The first and only touchdown scored for the Warriors was an 80-yard reception by wide receiver Caleb Otero. The rest of the game did not go in favor for the Warriors as the game ended with a 35-7 Cowboys victory. Hoping to bounce back from the loss, the Steinbrenner Warriors took on Tampa Bay Tech Titans. This game had been pushed back to Saturday, September 2nd, due to hurricane Idalia. With a short week, the fight against a strong Titans team wasn’t enough for the Warriors to pull through with a devastating loss of 42-0. 

The Warriors had hope for their first win in the homecoming game against the Plant City Raiders on September 8th. Starting off strong in the 1st quarter with quarterback, #7 Ty Robison getting a touchdown on the board for Steinbrenner. The game wasn’t very eventful until after halftime the Warriors came back strong with two touchdowns from #2, Andrew Diaz and #5 Kason Colvin-Powell. Although we lost 34-23, the Warriors were looking forward to their next game against Lennard.  

With the Warriors coming off a 3-game losing streak, the season was not going as hoped. Steinbrenner faced the Lennard Longhorns on September 14th.  It was a defensive battle for a while, but things started to pick up in favor of the Warriors. Staring off the second quarter strong with #3, Brady Messenger scoring the first two touchdowns and #5 Kason Colvin-Powell following that with another. Moving into the second half #7 Ty Robison scored the final touchdown for the Warriors, which led them to a 31-10 victory for the first win of the season. Wide receiver Brady Messenger had a positive outlook after the win, saying “Were working better together and we are starting to understand the offense and defense so we’re starting to succeed more.” 

After a bye week on September 29th, the Steinbrenner Warriors took on the Eastlake Eagles in an important district matchup. The Warriors were off to a quick start after a touchdown on their opening drive. That didn’t make a difference as they trailed the Eagles 20-6 at halftime. The Warriors kept focused on their hopes of a late 2nd half comeback. A big kick return by #15 Kelton Meares and an even bigger game tying field goal by kicker #46 Evan Hodac got the Warriors into overtime knotted at 30. The Eagles got out a quick touchdown in overtime and the Warriors responded quickly with their own. Steinbrenner went for the win on a two-point conversion and as QB #7 Ty Robinson floated the ball under pressure #16 Justin Mcilwain caught the ball in the corner of the end-zone. As the Warriors began to celebrate the referees changed the original call of a completed pass to an incomplete one. Despite the warrior’s impressive comeback with a 37-36 overtime finish, the warriors just fell short with a questionable game ending call. 

Now with the first half of the season in the books, the Warriors hoping to find something positive, Head Coach Andres Perez spoke about the first games “The whole season is all about building week to week and I think right now this is a good way to start.”  Coach Perez and the Warriors look forward to continuing their season and only getting stronger with five weeks left.