Missed the playoffs, lost the division

Westinghouse sat out the IHSA playoffs last year and got dropped from the Public League's top Red division down to the second tier for this season.

The Warriors took it personally

Nobody in the program accepted the demotion quietly. They want back among the city's upper-level teams, and they are saying so out loud.

“It definitely put a little chip on our shoulder for sure.”

42-6 at Rockne Stadium

Saturday's romp past Curie was the first real proof of the point. Seven Westinghouse touchdowns to one for the Condors.

Gandy's 132-yard half

Senior Jaidyn Gandy carried nine times for 132 yards, all of it before halftime, scoring from one yard out and from 50.

Two more hit paydirt

Ethan Wiley added five carries for 35 yards and a score. Bernard Mitchell Jr. broke a 50-yard touchdown run of his own.

A receiver turned running back

Gandy, who also runs track, moved from receiver to the backfield this season. He had played the position before, so it was not new ground.

Better every week

Coach Julius Carter says the switch is paying off through steady work. Gandy says he just trusts the coach to put him where he helps most.

“He's been getting better every week, just working, learning different things.”

Just be a football player

Gandy shrugs off the position label entirely. Whatever the team needs that week is the job description.

“We've just got to be a football player at the end of the day.”

The best player nobody names

Carter calls Wiley one of the top players in the Public League and says he is badly underrated. Wiley made All-City as a sophomore last year.

“He's a receiver, DB, whatever we need him at. He can do it all.”

Wiley wants the exposure

The junior believes he is better than players getting far more attention, and he is treating every Saturday as an audition.

“I definitely feel like I've got a lot to prove because there's a lot of guys out here [who are] getting way more exposed.”

3-1 and playoff-eligible

Westinghouse is a win shy of its 2025 total but qualifies under the expanded postseason format. Key players are hurt, and the goals have not moved.

“The goal was to win conference, make the city and state playoffs and just keep things going in the right direction.”

Curie's turnovers did the damage

The Condors fell to 2-2 after being shut out by Lincoln Park a week earlier. Giveaways set up three of Westinghouse's seven touchdowns.

A freshman, and a coach stunned

Backup quarterback Treyveon Townsend ran six times for 33 yards and a score. Coach Jarve Lewis-Bey knew the playbook cold and still could not stop it.

“They ran the same plays the last three weeks, they ran them this week. We still couldn't stop them.”