The Warrenton Warriors were unable to make key plays to stay close to Union in their loss last week.
Warrenton (1-5) fell to Union (6-0). The Warriors lost the game 55-14. Despite the lopsided score, Warrenton football coach Jason Koper believes the Warriors played better in the game than the score indicates.
“There were opportunities for us to score,” Koper said. “There were opportunities for us to continue some drives.”
After falling behind 7-0, Warrenton scored on their second drive on a 75-yard touchdown pass from Charlie Blondin to Mason Thompson. Koper said it was a great throw and great catch and run on the score.
The next two Warrenton drives stalled on dropped passes. On one drive, the Warriors drove the ball from their own 5-yard line to the Union 30-yard line before two consecutive drops ended the drive.
“I had us at nine dropped passes on Friday night. And when you’re playing a team as good as Union, you just can’t do that,” Koper said.
Koper said the Warriors also had a chance to stop Union on a fourth down in the first half. The Warriors hit the Union ball carrier behind the line of scrimmage, but Union was able to push forward for two yards for a first down.
Blondin went 9-21 passing for 167 yards. Thompson, Mitchell Williams and Colton Brosenne all had at least 44 yards receiving.
The Warriors were led defensively by junior Jacob Ruff, who had nine total tackles, including eight solo tackles. Garrison Allen had seven total tackles and one sack. Sophomore linebacker Cole Meyer had seven total tackles and one sack. The Warriors played the game without Kadin Stroer and Javon Blair, who are two of Warrenton’s leading tacklers this season.
Koper noted the progress he is seeing from underclassmen over the past few weeks. He specifically cited the progress made by Jack Morris and Elias McPike. Morris is a freshman offensive and defensive lineman for Warrenton. McPike is a freshman running back and linebacker.
“Some of our young guys are starting to step up and play good,” Koper said. “Jack Morris as a freshman lineman is starting to play good. Elias McPike is starting to do better and better as we go. And that’s one thing that we do have this year that we haven’t had in the past. We do have some depth.”
Warrenton will square off against conference foe Winfield (2-4) this week. Warrenton is 1-1 in conference play this season. They beat St. Charles and lost to St. Charles West in conference action earlier this season. Koper’s focus for the Warriors this week is to execute on both offense and defense for all four quarters. Koper does not think the Warriors have played a full four quarters on either side of the ball so far this season.
“That was my message over the weekend is we’ve just got to start playing four complete quarters,” Koper said. “One play at a time. That’s kind of the mentality we’re trying to establish is one play at a time. Give your best effort each and every play and good things will happen.”
Friday night’s game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at Winfield High School.