The lights went out on the Westview Knights Friday night, literally and figuratively.

Less than two minutes into the first quarter, the lights went out on Horizon High School’s football field. Each team regrouped in their respective ways.

“We were fine once the lights went out,” said Lucas Ramirez, director of football operations at Horizon. “As a coaching staff we had the team stretch. There wasn't that much panic. Our players are mentally strong.”

As if the power outage wasn’t enough of a challenge with 28.6 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Westview (0-3) had the ball and ran a short pass out of bounds to stop the clock – the clock which didn’t run to start the play. Chaos ensued among players coaches and fans alike as the officials decided to run the clock down to 23 seconds.

As Westview moved down the field with seconds left, the frustration reached its peak on a dropped pass in the end zone, which sealed the Knights’ 27-21 loss at Horizon.

Though it may seem Westview’s defense was to blame given Horizon scored its game-winning touchdown with 54.7 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Knights coach Nick Gehrts remained confident in his defensive unit.

“In general, the defense played really well,” he said. “Defensively, we just had to get out of our own way and stop making little mistakes.”

It was those little mistakes that cost the game for the Knights. While there was strong play from their quarterback, Scott Fallers, and running back Jacob Olivas, it was not enough to secure the game, even with a blocked extra point on the final touchdown of the game.

The Huskies (3-1) had some downfalls of their own. Early in the game, the teams seemed to either score touchdowns or turn the ball over. The real kicker for the Huskies was late in the fourth quarter when quarterback Isaac Enriquez fell to the turf and did not stand up. Enriquez was seen limping off the field as Horizon sent in backup quarterback Jake Martinelli.

Martinelli led the Huskies down the field, and Nash Giffin pushed the ball past the goal line for the game-sealing rushing touchdown.

With a missed extra point the Knights had a chance to come back. They marched down the field successfully with flags being thrown on nearly every play on both sides of the ball. With one final play left in the game  Fallers backed up for one final pass to the goal line. A difficult-to-catch ball was dropped at the goal line as the final buzzer sounded. The play was reminiscent of the one that ended the first half of the game when the Knights dropped another touchdown pass in the end zone.

With all the distractions from the lights going out on the field, to the play clock not properly running, a quarterback going down and turnovers it is easy to see why this game had everyone on the edge of their seat.

Freshman coach Justin Brandsma eased Huskies fans minds when he talked about Enriquez coming off the field on crutches and an ankle wrapped after the game.

“He is definitely going to play again,” Brandsma said. “He is too strong of a player not to.”