A quiet, scoreless first quarter soon turned into a definitive second for the Warrenton football team on Sept. 25 against St. Charles West in the battle of the Warriors.

Warrenton scored four touchdowns en route to a 48-14 road victory.

While not much necessarily changed, a plethora of big plays sparked the momentum. 

“This was probably our best overall quarter of the year so far,” Warrenton coach Jason Koper said. “Defensivley, we had a couple of big stops and turnovers and we were fired up.” 

Within that second quarter, sophomore Brad Tucker notched his first two varsity touchdowns – one of which came from a 92-yard kickoff return. 

“I was feeling good, my body felt good and I was a little nervous (before the game), but we had good practices and good preparation – I’ve been waiting for this,” Tucker said. 

On the return, Tucker cleanly caught the ball off the bounce and took off. 

“It was just green grass from there,” Tucker said. 

Jordan Lopez impressed as well with a 78-yard fumble recovery in turn for a touchdown. 

“It was a blur and kind of a dream. I had seen the ball and I was like no way, nobody’s around except for that quarterback and he almost chased me down,” Lopez said. “I knew I needed to make a move because I wanted to see that endzone.” 

This marked Lopez’s first varsity touchdown as well. 

“After I broke that quarterback – that last 20 yards was straight money from there,” he said. 

The Warriors kept it rolling as Joe Greene captured an interception and a 17-yard touchdown reception by Brody Reel from quarterback Christian Blondin commenced a dominant four-score quarter. 

“In the second quarter, we played a clean quarter. (Greene) had his first start tonight and he had a phenomenal game, and those younger guys – Eli Schneider, (Tucker) – they had huge games. Being sophomores, they’re stepping up and playing big,” Warrenton coach Jason Koper said. 

Greene led the defense with 17 total tackles, while Schneider had eight and one sack. Tucker rushed for 79 yards and racked up 16 points for Warrenton. 

Koper credited two defensive plays – Lopez’s fumble return and Greene’s interception – as major turning points.

“Those are the two big plays that really got us fired up,” Koper said. 

Lopez prided himself for his role in swinging the momentum. 

“I just had to keep my team up and positive as long as possible,” Lopez said. 

In total, six different Warriors found the end zone, including Javon Jones, Isias Hernandez and Kaleb Lauck – a stark contrast from the previous week’s performance. 

“That’s what we need. With Deadrick Forrest having a week like he did last week, he’s obviously going to take a ton of attention from the defense, and he did,” Koper said. “(Blondin’s) decision making is getting a whole lot better and that’s where our offense is starting to click.” 

Blondin threw for 266 yards with 15 completions and one touchdown.

“Our offensive line played phenomenally again. (Blondin) had time like crazy to throw the ball and the way he’s throwing the ball right now, it doesn’t seem to matter what down we are. He can rip it and get us a first down, and it doesn't matter down or distance,” Koper said. 

Before the season started, Koper made it a point to challenge the newcomers to make their mark at the varsity level. 

“Overall, we’re growing and we’re taking big steps forward and we got to keep it up for the next several weeks,” he said. “This is the type of game that helps build your confidence as you get down in the season, because you trust that you’ll do what’s right.” 

Reel led the receivers with four catches for 117 yards. Forrest added an interception, Lopez recovered two fumbles, Antwian Pierce recovered a fumble, Jones recorded a sack and Jake Mincher finished with eight tackles.

Warrenton (4-1) will return home on Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. for a GAC North matchup with Holt (2-3).