Scott Lathrop ran for three touchdowns as the Warrenton Warriors defeated the Borgia Knights Friday night in Warrenton, 37-3. “We got off to a pretty good start,” said Warrenton Head Coach Ken Moore. “I thought Borgia’s defense played pretty well, especially in the first half. In the second half we figured some things out and were able to take advantage of it.” The win assured the Warriors (6-3) of the district title. “The district title and our success is a culmination of things we’ve been trying to achieve over the past five years,” Moore said. “We felt like our schedule, even though we lost three games, really helped prepare us for the district.” Borgia fell to 5-4 with the loss. The Knights host St. Dominic (8-1) Thursday with a playoff spot on the line. Warrenton has clinched the district title and plays at St. Charles West (4-5). “You have to congratulate Warrenton,” said Borgia Head Coach Dale Gildehaus. “They played very well.” Thursday Previews The Knights will have their hands full with the AAA champion Crusaders at home. The winner gets the runner-up spot in Class 4 District 8 and will hit the road to play at the District 7 winner Wednesday. All four District 7 teams (Duchesne, St. Charles, Westminster and Jennings) head into play Friday night at 1-1 in the district. Warrenton is playing at St. Charles West and is favored to win by both Massey Ratings and Calpreps.com. Massey Ratings projects Warrenton to win, 30-21. Calpreps has the Warriors winning, 42-19. “It’s a lot of weight off our shoulders,” Moore said. “As a program we keep wanting to make goals for ourselves, and one of those goals every year is to be district champs.” St. Dominic has only lost this season to Warrenton. Evan Merz is the top quarterback for the Crusaders and both Jacob Powers and Jacob Wilmes are capable runners. James Lang and Austin Kiel are the top receiving threats. Jake Birke and Kyle Bazzell are the top tacklers. “St. Dominic will be a very difficult foe,” Gildehaus said. “We know that as well. I told the kids we don’t quit. We’ve got 18 seniors who will be playing Thursday night at home. We will go back to work and do our very best to get us that 11th ballgame.” Massey Ratings has projected the game too close to call, predicting a 15-15 tie. Calpreps.com is projecting St. Dominic to win, 21-14. Borgia-Warrenton This game belonged to the host Warriors, who led for most of the game. “Defensively we were able to respond and had kids flying to the ball,” Moore said. “We did a lot better job on our tackling this week. We didn’t get beat on screens and some of the other things we had in the past.” Gildehaus complimented the Warriors. “They’re a very good football team,” Gildehaus said about Warrenton. “Defensively, we were right there with them for almost a half. Offensively, we’re just not that good right now. Offensively, we did some good things. Defensively, our game plan did a great job. It was 7-3 just before the half and if we hadn’t given them a short field, who knows what would have happened? From that standpoint, I couldn’t have been prouder of our squad at that point. Then we made a mistake and gave them the short field and they ran it right down our throats.” Warrenton ran for 315 yards in the game, averaging 7.2 yards per carry. Borgia had trouble stopping the Warriors on the ground as the Warrenton offensive line frequently opened large holes in the defense. “Our offensive line was getting after it, being mean and aggressive, and you’ve got to like that,” Moore said. Lathrop led the way with 18 carries for 136 yards. “He’s one of the quickest, fastest kids around,” Gildehaus said. Nick Reese and Austin Black had big nights as well. Reese carried the ball 16 times for 90 yards and Black had nine carries for 84 yards. Nick Todd ran once for five yards. Through the air, Lathrop completed five of seven pass attempts for 93 yards. Todd was the top receiver with three catches for 65 yards. Travis Doyle caught one pass for 16 yards. T.J. Lafaver had one catch for 12 yards. Borgia was held to under 200 total yards. The Knights ran for 95 yards, averaging 3.1 yards per carry, and threw for 97 yards. “I think there was an expectation for the team to perform better on defense,” Moore said. “We hung it on them to have a stronger presence, and I felt like they did. Austin Black had a monster game for us on defense.” John Baumstark played the first three quarters and was 12-17 for 64 yards and two touchdowns. “I think John Baumstark has the potential to be a very good quarterback,” Gildehaus said. “Tonight, he was nervous. They have great speed, which took his speed away. We’ve got to be able to run the ball better and pass the ball better.” Ryan Mathews came in for the final quarter and completed three of seven attempts for 33 yards and one interception. Garrett Perrotto led the Knights in rushing with four carries for 31 yards. Tim Weber picked up 26 yards on four carries. Drew Ruether carried three times for 18 yards. Brett Strauser had nine rushes for 16 yards. Dallas Lynn carried three times for three yards. Baumstark had seven carries for one yard. Mathews ended with one carry for no yards. TJ Findeiss caught five passes for 34 yards. Jared Mohesky had four catches for 31 yards. Lynn caught three balls for 14 yards. Weber had one catch for 17 yards, Billy Marquart caught one pass for three yards and Ruether had one catch for -2 yards. Lathrop, Derrick Chapman and Devin Roberts intercepted passes for Warrenton. Roberts and Black recovered fumbles. Black, JJ Filpek and Justin Greene each had one quarterback sack. Black ended with 16 total tackles while Todd had 13, Lathrop ended with 11 and Greene posted 10. Reese had six total tackles and Filpek had five solo stops. Roberts had five total tackles. For Borgia, Brendan Chalk had 10 tackles, four assists and a fumble recovery. James Ortmann had eight total tackles. Findeiss posted six tackles and two sacks. Charlie Walde had six total tackles. Alex Eljaiek had six solo stops. The Knights aided Warrenton’s offense several times. Borgia was penalized nine times for 71 yards in the game with several coming on key plays. The Warriors took nine penalties for 80 yards. Nearly the entire first quarter was played in Borgia territory. The Warriors benefitted from a fluke interception. After the ball rolled down the back of a Borgia receiver. Chapman picked off the ball at the Borgia 26. That set up a four-yard run by quarterback Lathrop with 9:34 left in the opening quarter. Darren Hackmann’s kick made it 7-0. After Chalk recovered a fumble at the Borgia 31, The Knights drove in the second quarter to get on the scoreboard with a 34-yard kick by Justin Graham. “We had some nice drives and did some nice things,” Gildehaus said. “We’re not a big-play team like they are. We don’t have the speed to break a long one like they do. We did some good things, but not enough good things to get into the end zone.” Lathrop gave the Warriors another score with 1:57 left in the half. After a Borgia punt, Lathrop ran 65 yards on a quarterback draw. The kick failed and Warrenton led, 13-3. Warrenton held thatched at the intermission. The Warriors drove 80 yards to start the third quarter. Reese scored on a one-yard carry with 8:13 left in the quarter. Black carried for the two-point conversion to make it 21-3. The Lathrop show continued in when he scrambled for a 12-yard touchdown with 4:19 left in the third quarter. In Warrenton’s only weak area on the night, the extra-point kick missed. Lathrop added an interception with just over two minutes left in the quarter and then hit Todd for a long gain on the next play. Lynn broke up a potential touchdown pass to the left sideline with less than a minute left in the quarter. The quarter ended with Warrenton up, 21-3. The Warriors needed little time in the fourth quarter to add to the lead. Reese ran up the middle for a nine-yard touchdown with 10:58 left in the game. Hackmann’s kick made it 34-3. Mathews replaced John Baumstark at quarterback in the fourth quarter as the Knights went for a passing attack to try to get back into the game. Roberts intercepted a pass and returned it to the Borgia 23 with 9:23 left in the game. Hackmann added a 20-yard field goal with 5:54 left in the game to make it 37-3. Borgia fumbled early on its next drive to give Warrenton the ball again deep in Borgia territory. That led to a long field goal attempt by Hackmann which fell just short of the crossbar. Borgia drove late in the game, but could not score.