On Friday, September 6th, the Firebirds played the Vikings in a high-stakes GMC matchup. Last season, these two teams played each other twice, in which Princeton won the regular season matchup 18-3 and West won the second matchup in the playoffs 19-7. Due to the chance of thunderstorms, the game was delayed, resulting in a 7:30 start time. The late start did not matter for the Vikings, as they took care of business, getting revenge by winning 14-6 in a defensive battle. West quarterback Sam Wiles went 8/20 for 68 yards and an interception. Princeton quarterback Deangelo Birch went 9/14 for 99 yards, one touchdown, and an interception. 

The game had a slow start, with neither team scoring in the first quarter. The Vikings drew first blood with seven minutes remaining in the first quarter with a Teryntino Brown-Freeman 1-yard touchdown run on 4th and goal to put Princeton up 7-0. The Firebirds would then drive down before half-time, leading to a Kofi Adubofuor 26-yard field goal, making the score 7-3.

Both offenses would continue to stall in the third quarter; with neither team scoring any points. However, things would start to pick up in the fourth quarter. West drove down once again but could not score a touchdown, with Adubofour knocking in another field goal to cut the Princeton lead to 1. The Firebirds then forced a stop, getting the ball back in the fourth quarter trailing by one point. However, a muffed punt by Rece Mason set up great field position for the Vikings, who would score on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Deangelo Birch to tight end Landen Miree with 8:30 remaining in the game. The Firebirds would eventually get the ball back with a couple of minutes remaining but would fail a fourth down conversion, leading to a kneel-out for the Vikings which would seal the win.

The Firebirds now sit at 2-1 overall and 1-1 in GMC play, while the Vikings are 2-1 overall and 2-0 in GMC. The Firebirds head back home to host Fairfield this Friday, looking to bounce back.