Friday's season opener against St. Charles may have resulted in a 40-27 win, but that doesn't mean the Warrenton football team is walking away completely satisfied. Perhaps it's a sign of the times for the Warriors, who were once thrilled with a single victory after suffering 27 straight losses. But after reaching the state championship in 2010, the old "a win is a win" adage doesn't sit as well with senior Captain Austin Black. His coach agrees there are areas of concern but was pleased to see the players comprehend their roles. "I think what impressed me the most was that the guys knew what they were doing," said first-year coach John Atwell. "They were pretty sharp on everything. There was a lot of growth from last Saturday." The Warriors eventually separated the gap, but there was a stretch during the second quarter when St. Charles came charging back. Warrenton had jumped out to a two touchdown lead before letting the Pirates cut the gap to 21-19 by the break. "After the first half I was just upset with everything that was going on," said Black. Black and junior teammate Devin Roberts asserted themselves, each scoring three touchdowns to lead the Warriors to victory. Roberts stole back the momentum on the first play of the second half, returning the kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown. It was the second of his special teams touchdowns, having delivered a punt return 55 yards for a score early in the second quarter. "We wanted to get him the ball," said Atwell of Roberts. "He had done such a good job in the jamboree." "I was very happy that I finally got an open field view, where I could show what I'd been working on," said Roberts. "I was proud of how our team never game up on special teams." The Warriors came out in dominant fashion, with Black driving down the field and eventually scoring on a three-yard run with 9:33 remaining in the first period. St. Charles responded at the 5:08 mark, snatching a pass by junior quarterback Evan Costello and returning it 33 yards for a touchdown. Costello countered by finding Roberts on a four-yard touchdown strike with 1:31 left in the quarter. He finished 12 of 22 with 206 yards during his debut as starting signal caller. Costello threw four interceptions, but Atwell says he'll take the fault on at least one of those. "I've got to take some ownership in some of our picks," said Atwell. "There was one of them where I called a play out of a formation that wasn't real feasible. I thought the kids would know what to do out of the formation. Following Roberts' punt return, the Pirates began to find their own rhythm on offense, turning to shifty quarterback Brandon Howard. He eventully broke loose on a 16-yard touchdown run. Chvon Richardson scored from one yard out to end the half with Warrenton in command 21-19. "We changed our defensive philosophy a little bit," said Atwell. "We wanted him to beat us with his arm and throw it. The probably is with a small, shifty quarterback, you rush in, and you start opening up some lanes." Howard was more effective with his feet, completing just 14 of 32 passes and throwing a pair of interceptions. When the ball was in his hands, he found ways to create hards. "The offense they run was really hard to read on defense," said Black. "The quarterback ran most of the time, so I had to stay in the box instead of dropping back for the pass." Atwell knew the safest plan would be to keep his defense off the field, giving it a rest while the offense burned the clock. "We knew our defense had been out there a long time, and we knew had to get them off there," said Atwell. "They weren't really driving. We were just giving up a big play here and there." The Warriors managed to own the time of possession in the second half, at one point stringing together a nine minute drive in the third quarter. Black helped put the game out of reach, scoring on runs of two yards and five yards to push Warrenton ahead 40-19. Atwell says Warrenton will look to cut down on its miscues, including turnovers and penalties. "We had some mistakes, but we had a couple of good things come out of it too," said Atwell. "Mentally, we're not there yet. We talk about mental toughness. In our conditioning, we learn to focus while we're tired." Black had 62 yards rushing on 17 carries. Roberts racked up 21 yards on five touches, while junior Devin Ray had 15 yards on six carries. Roberts finished with 60 receiving yards on six catches. Seniors Jason Bunge and Travis Doyle each had two receptions. Bunge also shined defensively, intercepting a pair of passes. Black led the Warriors with eight tackles, while Jordan Earlewine and Roberts each had five takedowns. The Warriors will travel to Duchesne this Friday for a 7 p.m. kickoff.