16-0. 

Halftime. 

A quiet student section.

After a slow first half, the Trojans came roaring back to life with two third-quarter touchdowns, putting them down seven with 12 minutes left. 

The Trojans beat the Little Hawks 30-29 in their season-opener at Trojan Field Aug. 28. The comeback win required a teamwide effort, with multiple teammates having standout results. Neil James ’27 had an excellent game, scoring two touchdowns with multiple big connections to help lead his team to victory. Atari Brown ’28 also made a large impact after scoring multiple two-point conversions to shorten City’s lead. But what happened to be most important was when wide receiver and defensive back Cade Towler ’27 chose to turn a 16-point deficit into an opportunity for a comeback.

“I think when we came into the Lepic building at halftime, we knew it wasn’t over; having a 16-point deficit isn’t the end of the world,” Towler said. “We knew that we were able to come back, and we decided we were going to do it and put all of our effort into it.” 

The fourth quarter featured back-to-back touchdowns from both City and West, with the Trojans down 23-29 with under two minutes left. Kingston Swayzer ’27 made an important stop on defense, forcing a City turnover. A crucial pass to James led West to the red zone, and quarterback Reece Wheeler ’27 scored with a quarterback sneak. After a final crucial minute of West’s defense and a City High interception with 26 seconds left, the game was over.

“It definitely shows how we’re gritty. Our word of the week was tough, [and] this showed how tough we were and how we were able to get the win,” James said.

After showing doubt going into the second half, Principal Mitch Gross is proud of the win, but even prouder of the team’s determination.

“It’s wonderful, but I’m just so proud of the team and the perseverance they showed; the tenacity they showed. I’m not going to lie, there are a few moments [that] I thought this game was over, and this team proved me wrong,” Gross said. “I think they’re going to prove a lot of people wrong.”

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