By Kory CarpenterRecord Sports EditorWarrenton Head Coach Steve McDowell has a theory.The longtime Warrior football coach believes time spent in the weight room correlates with wins on the field.When 30 percent of his players were regulars in the weight room one offseason, the team won three games.Last year, around half of his players made trips to the weight room a priority, and the 2014 team finished the year 5-5.And this past spring, nearly 70 percent of returning players became gym rats, and the Warriors won six games and advanced to the Class 3 playoffs, defeating Marshall, 17-10, Oct. 23.“We set two goals for ourselves this year,” McDowell said. “We wanted to win seven games and we wanted to advance to Week 11 in the playoffs.”Warrenton nearly accomplished both goals before falling to Mexico, 38-14, to finish the season 6-5.It was a far cry, however, from the 1-9 mark in 2011, the year before McDowell returned as head coach.Warrenton won five games total in 2012 and 2013 and went 5-5 in 2014.“We’re making good progress,” McDowell said.The Warriors started the season 2-0 with wins over St. Dominic and Troy, thanks to an offense that put up 65 points in two weeks.Senior quarterback Braydan Chmiel completed 60 percent of his passes on the season, threw 12 touchdowns and ran for 14 more.He finished the season with 2,080 all-purpose yards and had a stable of weapons around him that helped the Warrenton offense average 25.8 points per game.Junior running back Cameron Richardson was second on the team with 541 rushing yards, despite missing the final five games with injuries. He is expected to be McDowell’s top offensive weapon in 2016 after most of the players at skill positions will graduate.“We’re going to get really hit at the wide receiver position,” McDowell said. “When we went to a spread look we had four seniors out there the majority of the time.”Senior Hunter Russell led the Warriors with 645 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.Senior Jacob Abel caught 40 passes for 422 yards, and senior Jack Darity tallied 274 yards on 23 catches.“Jack doesn’t get a lot of recognition, but he’s a good possession receiver for us,” McDowell said.Defensively, starting outside linebacker and leading tackler Jacob Abel will graduate, but fellow linebacker, junior Jacob Null will return for the Warriors after recording 82 tackles this season.Sophomore defensive back Brenden Smith was fourth on the team with 57 tackles, and sophomore defensive back Brandon Molinari finished the season with 62 tackles and a team-high three interceptions.Other notable defenders expected to return include junior linebackers Drake Meine and Trey Taylor, who combined for 76 tackles this year.“We played a lot of younger kids this year,” McDowell said. “We looked at our team at the beginning of the year and noticed we had a lot of kids on the field that didn’t have a lot of varsity time.”The junior varsity team also finished 7-1, and McDowell expects those players to help fill the open spots as he continues to improve in the win column next season.“It was a good year for us,” McDowell said. “I think we’re going in the right direction.”

Braydan Chmiel rolls out of the pocket and looks for a receiver earlier this season. Chmiel threw for 12 touchdowns on the year.     Derrick Forsythe photo.