Last Friday night the Maine West Warriors played their first home game of the season, hosting Niles West. The game was a scoreless dual. Indian's place-kicker kicked a 20-yard field goal in closing seconds to start and end all scoring. The 3-0 defeat gave West their second setback of the young season.

The game was a tight struggle all the way with emphasis placed on defense. Both teams stayed on the ground, not risking any key interceptions. Niles West had their first scoring opportunity early in the game. Recovering a Warrior fumble at the Maine West 14-yard line, they penetrated only to the 6-yard line where the Indians gave the ball up on downs. For the rest of the first and most of the second quarter the ball changed hands quickly with neither team establishing a major drive.

One exciting moment resulted from a broken play. Niles West was punting with fourth down and long yardage. The snap from center went way over the punter's head. After running back to retrieve the ball the same kicker completed a desperation pass to a receiver down field. The complete play was just shy of first down yardage for the Indians.

The Warriors' major scoring threat came just before the half. With a combination of Drake and O'Neill running and Mietus connecting to Weller in the air, Maine drove into Niles West territory. The drive stalled with the aid of a holding penalty and a Niles West pass rush.

After picking up a Warrior punt fumble in the second half, the Indians just missed a 22-yard field goal effort. Later on successive penalties once again halted a Maine West drive. With less than a minute left and the ball resting inside the Warrior 10-yard line, Niles West's Greg Jakubik kicked their three winning points.

Two weeks ago the gridmen opened their season at Arlington where the powerful Cardinals rolled over their opponents by a 26-0 score. Arlington opened the scoring in the first quarter with a sustained drive based on three pass completions. The touchdown was scored on a 3-yard run, and the extra point failed.

In the second quarter the Cardinals received 14 gift points. The first touchdown came when Warrior quarterback Tom Mietus fumbled after being hit in the backfield. An Arlington defenseman scooped the ball up and ran to the goal line in the clear.

The second touchdown came as a result of another Warrior fumble on their own 15-yard line. One Cardinal pass and the extra point made it 20-0. The scoring ended in the closing minutes of the game as Arlington added an insurance touchdown.

The junior varsity team dropped their first two games also. Plagued by pass interceptions, they lost to Proviso West two weeks ago by a 19-0 score, and last Saturday succumbed 14-12 to Niles West.

The sophomore squads have had better luck. Two weeks ago they defeated Arlington 190. On September 17 the B team downed Proviso West by a 12-0 score. Their victims a week ago were Niles West, and they were handed a 13-7 loss.

On the freshman level the Warrior C team humbled Proviso West 14-6 on September 17. The A and B squads played last Saturday at home. The A team lost 26-14 to Niles West, but the B team managed to slip past the Indians by a 6-0 score.