Warriors rout Wesleyan Christian

The Webbers Falls Warriors played a near flawless game in Thursday afternoon’s home District BII-4 game against the Wesleyan Christian Mustangs at Smokey Cox Stadium, routing the visitors 54-14. The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Warriors.

“We needed this one (district win over Wesleyan Christian),” Webbers Falls coach Trent Holt said. “We needed a win for one, then a district win. Our goal was to win the district. Now, we’re behind the 8-ball there. I don’t know if there’s going to be anyone else who’s going to beat Wilson (Henryetta). We want to be second and get a home playoff game, which is big. You always want to play at home.”

The Warriors (4-3 overall, 1-1 in district play) was a perfect 4-for-4 on offensive drives ending in touchdowns as well as getting a defensive score in the first half.

Offensive drive No. 1, the opening possession of the game, saw the Warriors end the drive with a 9-yard TD run by Aiden Turley, who also ran in the two-point conversion, for an 8-0 lead with 7:44 left in the first quarter.

On the opening drive for the Mustangs (0-7, 0-2), it ended with a Gunner Shelby 45-yard interception return for a pick-6. Turley scored the two-point conversion to increase the Webbers Falls advantage to 16-0 with 5:40 remaining in the period.

After forcing a punt on the Mustangs’ next possession, the ensuing Webbers Falls’ drive ended in paydirt as Brutus Robinson took it to the house from 21 yards out with 2:14 left in the period. Robinson also scored the two-point conversion to put the Warriors ahead 24-0 after a quarter.

It looked like the Mustangs were finally going to score in the first half as they drove as deep as the Webbers Falls 8-yard line, only to be stopped on downs as a fourth-down pass play missed connecting with 10:13 remaining before halftime.

The Warriors cashed in the gift takeaway as Robinson scored his second TD of the first half on a 2-yard touchdown run. He also scored the two-point conversion for a 32-0 lead with 3:06 left in the first half.

The next Mustangs’ possession also ended being stopped on downs at the Webbers Falls 43-yard line with 1:35 left before halftime.

With 35 seconds left, Robinson hit a wide-open Trysten Wilbourn down the left sideline, who went untouched for the score. However, Austin Barger was stopped just short on the two-point conversion, thus sending both teams into the locker rooms with the host Warriors ahead 38-0.

It was sure looking like the 45-point mercy rule was going to end the game, but to the Mustangs’ credit they didn’t let that happen.

On the opening possession of the second half, the Mustangs drove down and scored their first points of the game on 2-yard touchdown run by Roman Edwards. After the Warriors were called for pass interference on the first two-point conversion try, Edwards was stopped on the run attempt for the conversion, keeping the Warriors ahead 38-6 with 6:41 left in the third quarter.

After Ryan Cowan recovered the Wesleyan Christian onside kick attempt at the Mustangs’ 49-yard line, the Warriors went 51 yards and made it their fifth consecutive offensive possession with a TD as Shelby caught a 52-yard touchdown pass from Robinson with 3:39 remaining in the period. Robinson’s two-point conversion increased the Webbers Falls advantage to 46-8 after three quarters.

On the ensuing drive, the Mustangs, who converted a fourth-down on the drive, responded with an 11-yard TD pass from Hudson Baker to Zander Week. Isaac Valenzuela-Aramburo connected with Timothy Wisdom on the two-point conversion pass to cut the Wesleyan Christian deficit 46-14 with 9:39 remaining in the game.

The Mustangs tried another onside kick, which was recovered by Webbers Falls player Preston Thao.

However, for the first time all game, the ensuing Webbers Falls drive did not end in the end zone as Luke McAvan recovered a fumble by Cowan at the Wesleyan Christian 7 with 2:56 left to play.

However, the Warriors got the ball right back as Wilbourn picked off a pass and returned the interception 6 yards to the Wesleyan Christian 18 with 52 seconds left. That marked the sixth Webbers Falls offensive possession that ended in the end zone.

Redeeming himself for the fumble, Cowan hit paydirt on a 2-yard touchdown run with eight seconds left in the game. Shelby hit Elliott Kunkel on the two-point conversion for a 54-14 lead.

“We were pleased offensively,” Holt said. “In the first half, we had a couple of busts — a couple of plays for losses. One guy screws it up, but we’ll take that. We don’t want to be this kind of football team where we just line up and run it, but if we have to, we think we can do it. Our kids are pretty strong, and we have a big, running tailback (Turley) that’s tough to tackle. We would rather spread it out and go one-back (set) and throw it around, but if it comes down to it, I think our offensive line is pretty strong and can move people — and our (running) backs are hard to tackle.”

On the ensuing kickoff, the Wesleyan Christian return man fumbled the ball with Shelby making the recovery and returning the ball 5 yards to the Mustangs’ 24 with two seconds left.

The eighth possession of the game for the Warriors was the second one of the game that did not end up in the end zone as they went into victory formation to end the game.

Although some might have thought the Warriors might have been disappointed they couldn’t mercy-rule the Mustangs, Holt truly was glad the game went all four quarters.

“I’ve got kids over there who practice, run and get hit,” he said. “I just want them to have a chance to play — they need to play — because we’re going to be counting on some of them.”