For the first time all season on Saturday, Warrenton’s three-headed monster of an offense was held in check. Making their first-ever state championship appearance, the Warriors found themselves …
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For the first time all season on Saturday, Warrenton’s three-headed monster of an offense was held in check. Making their first-ever state championship appearance, the Warriors found themselves facing an insurmountable halftime deficit. Webb City’s depth and athleticism proved too much, as it cruised to a 56-7 victory in the Class 4 final at the Edward Jones Dome. The Cardinals won their ninth state title and quickly set themselves apart from the competition — just as they had during each game of a dominant playoff run. Warrenton finished the season 11-4, while Webb City perfected a 15-0 campaign. “I’m proud of what we accomplished this year,” said Warrenton coach Ken Moore. “I want to congratulate our team on a great season.” The Warriors fell behind 21-0 seven minutes into the game and trailed 35-0 after one quarter. Senior quarterback Scotty Lathrop says Webb City was the most solid club Warrenton had faced the entire season, never showing any weakness. “They were relentless, everybody knew their assignments and didn’t make mistakes,” said Lathrop. “They knew they were the team to beat, and it’s tough to defeat a team that has that much physical talent and discipline.” Lathrop had been averaging 130 yards on the ground each game heading into Saturday. Nursing a sprained ankle against a swarming Cardinal defense, he managed just 35 yards on 16 carries. Junior Austin Black had been the Warriors’ other rushing force but was limited to five touches and met with resistence up the middle. The Cardinals were constantly ready for Warrenton’s leading receiver Nick Todd. The junior grabbed three receptions but was limited after the catch, picking up just 22 yards. “There weren’t many holes in their defense,” noted Lathrop. Webb City flexed its muscle in every facet of the game, scoring in all three phases. Senior running back Maddie Johnson was particularly troublesome for the Warriors, rushing for two touchdowns and scoring again on a 50-yard punt return. Austin Daniel made a pair of impressive touchdowns grabs in the first quarter. “I have to hand it to him,” acknowledged sophomore T.J. Lafaver, who had the daunting responsibility of covering Daniel. “He’s one of the best I’ve faced all season.” The Cardinals added to their scoring flurry when Pheonix Johnson scooped up a fumble and returned it 35 yards to push Webb City ahead by three possessions. Webb City coach John Roderique says he was surprised by his team’s dominant 49-0 halftime advantage. “Obviously we’re not 49 points better than them in a half, but we had a lot of things go right for us in that first half,” acknowledged Roderique. At halftime, Moore urged his team to continue playing hard despite the discouraging deficit. “We asked the boys, ‘Do we have enough pride to come out in the second half and work like we did in the first 14 games?’,” asserted Moore. Warrenton was able to move the ball with some success in the passing game but wasn’t consistent enough to find the red zone more than twice. The Warriors’ lone touchdown came on a 12-yard strike from Lathrop to junior Jason Bunge with 3:21 remaining in the third period. They reached the red zone on one other occasion but Lathrop was stripped of the ball while being sacked, and Webb City recovered. Warrenton amassed 231 yards of total offense to the Cardinals’ 352 yards. Lathrop completed 11 of 19 passes for 133 yards and was sacked twice. “We really wanted to show that we belonged, and it wasn’t a fluke that we got there,” said Lathrop. “We wanted to play for the support of our fans.” The Warriors opted to steer away from the interior running game against a proven Webb City line. But the Cardinals countered Warrenton’s speed on the corners, holding the Warriors to 98 yards on 31 carries. Black ran for 45 yards on five touches, while senior Nick Reese had nine yards on four carries. Bunge finished with 78 yards on three catches. Cody Bennett and Travis Doyle each caught two passes. Webb City looked to the skies just six times, running the ball on 38 of its 44 plays from scrimmage. Jamison Cady led the way with 73 yards on 10 carries. “The first half got away from us, but we did some good things in the second half,” said Moore. “The biggest thing was that we didn’t quit.”