With as prolific a rushing attack as the Warrenton football team has, the Warriors’ receiving corps has had to make the most of the opportunities afforded through the team’s offensive schemes.

The aerial attack between sophomore quarterback Mason Sanders and senior wideouts Jordan Lopez (508 receiving yards) and Ty Thompson (192 yards), along with junior Keegan Lehmkuhl (344 yards), has played an important complementary role in the team’s success.

After all, in the wake of the team’s 49-6 win at St. Charles last Friday, Warrenton (5-3) is averaging 44.75 points per game over the past four weeks, three of which have been wins.

“With all the receiving threats we have, it’s kind of hard,” Lopez said. “There are games where I get one target or two targets. There will be games where I may get 10. The best thing our receiving corps can do is take full advantage of every opportunity we’re given.”

The St. Charles win let the wideouts show off not only their connection with Sanders, but also their big-play ability.

Coming out of halftime, Sanders hit Lehmkuhl with a 35-yard scoring strike to extend what was a 28-point lead.

Lehmkuhl credited the team effort for the receivers’ success.

“We win things up front to start and then they have to come play the run because Schneider’s going to get eight yards a carry,” Lehmkuhl said. “When they’re (forced to guard us one-on-one) we just go right by them and Mason throws it up for us to go get it.”

They did get it, indeed, against St. Charles.

Lehmkuhl led the way with 56 receiving yards and two scores, while Thompson added 51 yards and a score and Lopez also caught a 10-yard scoring pass as Sanders completed just five passes for 117 yards and four scores.

The efforts were a nice complement to junior Eli Schneider’s 24 carries for 201 yards and three scores. Overall, Schneider leads the offense with 989 rushing yards and 17 scores.

Warrenton Coach Jason Koper said that, along with the run game, the Warriors’ defense has done well controlling the game; the passing game has also been essential to keep the opposition honest.

“Mason has evolved,” Koper said. “He’s doing a great job finding the guys and they’re doing a great job getting into open spots. Mason is executing exactly as we need him to right now. That’s to limit our throws; we don’t want to throw a ton, especially the way our defense has been playing and the way we’ve been running the football. We’ve been able to grind out the clock, and it’s in our nature. That’s what I want the guys to continue to focus on.”

That focus will continue at 7 p.m. this Friday when Warrenton ends the regular season with its Senior Night game against Borgia.

Lopez said that he, for one, will experience a flood of emotions in what could be his last home game.

“This is absolutely huge; I never thought I would come to this moment,” Lopez said. “It came very fast. This is a big night. We’re very confident. We know this will be a gritty game because we know Borgia is very physical.”

The current Class 4 District 4 standings see Warrenton in fourth place in the seven-team district with one week to play.

The 38.11 points amassed put the Warriors just ahead of Hannibal (36.82 points). If the places hold, Warrenton would host the Pirates the weekend of October 30 in a first-round district playoff game.