With his team trailing by two touchdowns heading into the fourth quarter, Warrenton Football Coach Steve McDowell decided to ditch the original game plan completely.
It was a move that would …
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With his team trailing by two touchdowns heading into the fourth quarter, Warrenton Football Coach Steve McDowell decided to ditch the original game plan completely.
It was a move that would catch host Mexico off guard and propel the Warriors to a thrilling 29-26 victory.
Warrenton, which has relied strongly upon its running game throughout a 4-5 season, used two passing touchdowns in the final 4:46 to escape the Bulldogs. The Warriors totaled just 31 rushing yards the entire night, prompting the change of plan.
“Mexico came in and was ready for our ground game,” said McDowell. “We used a variety of backs but couldn’t get anything established. We ended up using the passing game as our running game, using a lot of short, intermediate passes to move the sticks.”
Junior quarterback Caelon Weir rose to the challenge, competing 22 of 47 passes for a season-high 302 yards and two touchdowns.
“We were able to expose some things in their secondary,” said McDowell. “We were able to hit those shorter passes and let the receivers make plays. Caelon did a good job putting the ball where it needed to be.”
Down 26-14 with 4:46 remaining, Weir connected with freshman Joe Goldsmith on a 15-yard touchdown pass.
“In the fourth quarter the wind was at our backs, so that was an advantage for our passing game,” said McDowell. “We had to throw the ball to get anything going offensive-wise.”
On the ensuing drive, the signal caller found senior Connor Tittel on a 70-yard scoring strike to put the Warriors in command. Tittel followed with a two-point conversion run.
“We decided to go for two and force them to kick a field goal,” said McDowell. “We had to be able to make a good defensive stand at the end of the game, and we were able to do that and knock down passes when needed.”
Tittel finished with 102 yards on five catches, while junior Kolby Meine hauled in a seven receptions for 103 yards.
Warrenton went into halftime facing a 20-7 deficit, with Weir having scored on a one-yard run midway through the second quarter.
“One of the best things was at the end of the first half, Mexico got the ball deep in our territory, and we were able to hold them out of the end zone,” said McDowell.
Weir added another one-yard score in the third quarter to keep the Warriors in contention.
While the conversion to the passing game was a new identity for McDowell’s team, he will welcome what’s effective.
“If Mexico had looked at any of our film in previous games, we were mostly run oriented,” said McDowell. “We have that luxury with Caelon being back there and good core of receivers, to catch the ball and make plays. We saw some things we could expose with our passing game and were able to execute it.”
Defensively, the Warriors were led by senior Andrew Cox with nine tackles, while Meine and senior Jacob Parker recorded eight takedowns. Cox, Parker and senior Shane Brosenne each recovered a fumble.
The fifth-seeded Warriors will travel to Kirksville this Friday to begin play in the Class 4, District 4 Tournament.
“They’re the same spread offense we faced last year,” said McDowell. “We’re fortunate to get Quincy (McRoberts) and Isaiah (Jones) back into the running game this week.”
