Football season is back and the first home game for the Birmingham Patriots was on Friday, September 3, at home.

The first two preseason games of the year were away games against Calabasas and Chaminade.

This first home game was against Leuzinger and the first quarter was exciting as the quarterback and the wide receivers seemed to have great chemistry. The Patriots were driving down the field and doing it flawlessly.

Not only was the offense was playing great, but the defense was also playing very well. They were all over the Leuzinger offense. Then the Patriots’ offense was finding all the slip-ups from Leuzinger’s defense and were playing smart. They continued to show this defensive intensity during the first and second quarters.

One drawback for the Patriots was when their starting quarterback, senior Adam Sadigh, was hurt and did not return to the game. The second-string quarterback, freshman Kingston Tisdell, came into the game for the Patriots. He started off great and held the lead to fourteen points until the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter started and the Patriots defense started to allow more first downs and quickly Leuzinger took advantage of that and began to drive down the field and scored a touchdown.  This brought the Patriots’ lead down to 7 points. The Patriots’ offense came onto the field and the BCCHS quarterback was overthrowing some throws, but the offense was able to convert on third down and drove down the field. Then what could have put the lead up to 14, but the pass was intercepted by the Leuzinger defense. From there, the Leuzinger offense drove down the field and scored a touchdown, tying the game. The Patriots’ offense got the ball with two minutes left and they were hitting check downs. The Patriot quarterback then threw an interception and the defense needed a stop for the game., but Leuzinger’s offense went onto the field and threw a touchdown. That put them up by a touchdown. The Patriots then threw another interception to end the game, with the score 45-35 in favor of Leuzinger.

The Patriots’ first preseason game was against Calabasas. Both teams ended the first quarter with zero touchdown or field goals. The second quarter came and Calabasas scored 13 points while the Patriots scored 7 points. Both teams played a good defensive game with the game close at halftime.

In the third quarter, the Patriots scored 6 and Calabasas scored 7. Then the defense really stepped up for both teams and this led to no more touchdowns until the fourth quarter. Calabasas won the game 20-13, but it was a good defensive game.

The Patriots second home game started off well with their defense holding Westlake to only a field goal. The Patriots didn’t score in the first quarter and were only down by three. In the second quarter, the Patriot defense held them again to three points, making the score 6-0.

The Patriots stopped Westlake at one field goal again for the quarter. The third quarter started and the Patriots scored a touchdown, this led to a tie game, 6-6.  The Patriots stopped Westlake’s offense in the third and kept it even at 6-6. The fourth quarter came along and Westlake scored a field goal, making the score 9-6. Westlake then stopped the Patriot offense and kept the score 9-6.