Win puts Warriors at 4-0
Staff writer
A big Warrior victory Friday capped the homecoming festivities. The Warriors defeated a tough Lincoln team 24-6. The PBHS team now is 4-0 on the season. Next up for the Warriors, a road trip to Inman.
The Warriors opened the game on defense, kicking to the Leopards. Isaiah Eldridge made the stop for the Warriors at the Lincoln 29-yard line. The Warriors held the Leopards on their first drive with tackles by Brandon Crabtree, Caleb Good, Chris Hamm, and Jonathon Foth. The Leopards punted and Brian Baker returned the ball to the Warrior 30-yard line.
The Warriors went right to work on offense. Kurt Phillips carried on first down for a gain of four yards. Hamm cut loose on second down to move the ball 17 yards and earn a new set of downs. Mario Nava gained six on first down and Hamm pushed forward for another nine yards to move the sticks on first and 10 from the 34-yard line. Kurt Phillips pitched the ball to Nava. Nava picked his way through the right side to the end zone, Hamm added the PAT and with 6:18 left in the first quarter, the Warriors took the lead 7-0.
Gaines, Adam Jones, and Eldridge covered the next kick-off and the Leopards began their second offensive drive at their own 29-yard line. Phillips and Job Hilliard were credited with tackles on the drive. A pass interference call on Lincoln pushed them back to the 19-yard line. On fourth and six the Leopards punted the ball, but the Warrior defense blocked the kick. Gaines picked up the ball and ran it into the end zone for the score. The PAT was good and the Warriors added to their lead 14-0 with 4:52 left in the first quarter.
A short kick-off was recovered mid-field by the Leopards. The Leopards were able to move the ball, earning two more sets of downs on the series. They took to their air game and scored a touchdown on a 22-yard pass play with 1:40 left in the first quarter. The two point conversion was broken up by Foth and the score was 14-6.
The Warriors went back to work on offense. The PBHS squad started the series on their own 32-yard line. A holding penalty moved the Warriors back on first down. Mario Nava gained back about half on second down, but another penalty moved the Warriors back again on the next down. On second and 16 Hamm scampered around the left side for a 22-yard gain. Nava, Hamm, and Phillips all carried the ball to earn the next set of downs and the first quarter ended.
The Warriors got penalized again. Phillips ran twice on third and fourth downs and moved the sticks once more. Nava carried the ball twice to bring the Warriors to another first and 10 at the 12-yard line. Nava, Hamm, and Phillips pushed the ground game to another first down at the one yard line. The very long drive ended with Nava coming through the middle to score for the Warriors. The PAT by Hamm was good. With 7:18 left in the half, the Warriors were up 21-6.
The Leopards made a serious effort on their next offensive drive. Starting at their own 35-yard line, Hamm, Crabtree, Gaines, and Caleb Good made huge tackles on the drive. The Warrior defense held the Leopards, taking over on offense again at their own five yard line.
The Warriors moved the ball down field with less than two minutes to go in the half. Hamm and Nava each had big runs. The Warriors ran out of time in the half and the score was 21-6.
The second half of the ball game was mostly defense. Jones saved an early touchdown run by the Leopards. Late in the third Phillips saved another touchdown with a big tackle on a fake punt. The third quarter ended the same, 21-6.
The Warriors last score came late in the fourth quarter. Phillips intercepted a Lincoln pass to give the Warriors first and goal at the eight yard line. The first three downs went nowhere, but on fourth and eight Hamm tacked on three with a field goal with 2:35 left in the game. The Warriors went up 24-6.
The Warrior defense played huge in the second half stopping the Leopards and holding them out of the end zone.
"We pounded them left and right," stated Coach Chris Young. "This was a hard fought one with a very good team. They played like a 3-0 team."
"We'll do a better job coaching next week. We have some things to fix. We'll go right back to work next week."
statistics
Mario Nava, 20 carries for 176 yards, 2 TDs
Chris Hamm, 24 carries for 143 yards
Ryan Gaines, 2 carries for 4 yards, 1 TD
Kurt Phillips, 14 carries for 33 yards
Tackles: Hamm, 11; Jones, 11; J. Hilliard, 11; Eldridge, 11; Adam Carroll, 11; Brandon Crabtree, 10; Gaines, 8; Phillips, 8; Foth, 5; C. Good, 4; Nava 3; Michael Unruh, 1; M. Hilliard, 1
Sacks: Jones, Eldridge, Carroll, J. Hilliard, Nava.
