Warriors undefeated
Staff writer
The Peabody-Burns High School Warriors took to the road Friday to take on the Sedgwick Cardinals in the third game of the season. The Warriors continued their winning streak by defeating the Cardinals, 49-12.
Now 3-0 on the season, the Warriors also are slotted fifth in the state 2A ranking. The team is preparing for a homecoming match-up Friday with Lincoln.
The Warriors started their domination of the Cardinals early in the game. Sedgwick had the ball first, but the Warriors surged through the Cardinal line and blocked a punt. The Warriors started their offensive series at first and goal on the three-yard line. Chris Hamm came up with the score with 9:01 left in the first quarter. The PAT by Hamm was successful and the Warriors claimed an early 7-0 lead.
Warriors defense held tight on the next Cardinal series and the PBHS squad took control of the offense again. A healthy gain by Hamm behind effective blocking by the offensive line gave the Warriors good field position at the Cardinal 31-yard line.
Mario Nava and Hamm each earned a set of downs and with 6:15 left in the first quarter, Nava found the end zone for the Warrior's second score. The PAT by Hamm was good and the PBHS squad was in control of the game 14-0.
The Warriors wasted no time scoring again after a Cardinal punt. Again Nava and Hamm shared ground game and Hamm, on a second and two 41-yard run, put the Warriors up 20-0. The PAT was no good.
The Warrior defense came up big all evening stopping the Cardinals. An injury to Kurt Phillips caused some adjustments to be made in the offense, but the Warriors got back on track late in the second quarter.
Nava scored on a big 23-yard run for the Warriors with 3:37 left in the second quarter. Ryan Gaines, Isaac Good, and Brian Baker also carried the ball for the Warriors in the first half. The Warriors took a 26-0 lead to the locker room at the half.
Gaines, Adam Jones, Isaiah Eldridge, Brandon Crabtree, Job Hilliard, Adam Carroll, and Jonathon Foth all had defensive stops in the first half.
The second half brought more of the same from the Warriors. Once again Hamm and Nava traded runs and at 6:04 in the third quarter, Hamm scored on a third and goal from the one-yard line. Caleb Good hooked up with Hamm for the two-point conversion to make the score 34-0.
The Warrior defense held tight in the third quarter, not allowing the Cardinals to score. Late in the third the Warriors regained offensive possession and moved the ball once again toward the end zone.
Nava and Hamm covered a long field and with just a few ticks off the clock in the fourth quarter, Hamm went to the left side, scoring on a third and six, running 14 yards for the score. Hamm added the PAT and Warriors dominated the Cardinals 41-0.
Throughout the rest of the game, the Warrior reserves went up against the varsity Cardinals. The Cardinals put up two scores in the period, but the Warrior reserves showed their stuff by adding another score late in the game with just under two minutes left to play.
Isaac Good found the end zone and Cole Welsh tacked on two more to bring the final score to 49-12.
Penalties were about the only thing not going the Warrior's way in the contest. Fifteen flags flew for 125 yards of lost yardage.
"We need to fix those penalties," stated Coach Chris Young. "We will fix those penalties. We are strong and aggressive and some of our mistakes can be attributed to that."
"Our defensive unit was extremely dominating tonight. We are a 'come at ya' team on both sides of the ball. I'm really proud of our whole team from the young ones to the older kids — they did great."
statistics
Hamm, 273 yds on 22 carries, 3 TD
Nava, 228 yds on 24 carries, 3 TD
Baker, 55 yds on 5 carries
I.Good, 39 yds on 8 carries, 1 TD
Gaines, 33 yds on 2 carries
Welsh, 4 yds on 4 carries
Tackles: Jones, 7; Gaines, 7; Nava, 4; Eldridge, 4; Crabtree, 4; Hamm, 3; Hilliard, 3; I. Good, 2; Derrick Simmonds, 2; Foth, 2; Phillips, 2; James Morris, 1; Ryan Johnson, 1; C. Good, 1; Scott Gray, 1; Baker, 1; Carroll, 1; Welsh, 1.
