Western Visitors Right at Home in 35-3 Victory Over Cypress

Western was designated as the visiting team on its own campus Friday night, but the Pioneers made themselves right at home with a 35-3 victory over Cypress at Handel Stadium.

Cypress also uses Handel Stadium as its home field.

Western (1-1) scored on its first three possessions, including Josh Christensen’s 31-yard touchdown reception from Brandon Brennan with eight minutes 54 seconds left in the second quarter, to take a 21-3 lead.

The Pioneers went ahead, 7-0, on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Brennan to Vince Branstetter with 10:14 left in the first quarter. The play capped a five-play, 80-yard drive. The big play in the drive was a 38-yard pass from Brennan to Christensen.

Brennan completed seven of 11 passes for 130 yards with one interception and two touchdowns. Christensen caught five passes for 108 yards. He had six receptions for 63 yards in Western’s 20-14 loss to Loara last week.

Western’s final two touchdowns came on its first two possessions of the third quarter. After a poor Cypress punt, Dawn Johnson went 25 yards on Western’s first play from scrimmage to give the Pioneers a 28-3 lead.

The final touchdown came on a one-yard plunge by Marques Robinson with 6:54 left in the third quarter. Western then removed most of its starters. Cypress fell to 0-2.