Warden whips Wahluke

Cougar turnovers prevent blowout in 17-10 win

The scoreboard failed to tell the story Friday night at Warden High School.

The Cougars beat the Wahluke Warriors by a touchdown, but it was never really that close.

Warden controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and dominated special teams the entire game.

"We have a lot of weight up front and I think it wore them down defensively to some extent," said Warden head coach Jerry Powell. "Getting (All-state place kicker) Jorge (Reyes) back made the difference."

Only Warden turnovers prevented the Cougars from breaking the game wide open.

Wahluke scored quickly on its first possession of the game. Warden seemed poised to knot the game up, but a fumble at the end of the first quarter and an interception at the beggining of the second killed successful drives.

"We didn't let our heads get down," Powell said. "We stayed positive as much as we could even though they scored early. We faltered and stumbled a little bit."

But after the Cougar defense halted Wahluke with 9:17 left in the half, the Warden offense found its stride in a big way.

(Warden #70, you have his name from the Gridiron mug list) deflected a Wahluke punt out of bounds, allowing the Cougars to take possesion inside Wahluke territory.

Warden quickly marched downfield thanks to strong runs by Arnold Rios, who finished with 69 yards on 16 carries, before he broke open with a 19-yard touchdown run to tie the score at 7-7 with 2:45 remaining.

Wahluke was halted, and with less than a minute in the half and Warden at midfield, the Cougars had enough time for one quick strike.

Wide receiver Andrew Garza skied between two Warrior defensive backs to catch a jump ball. With three seconds left in the half, Reyes kicked a 35 yard field goal as time expired to make it 10-7 Warden.

The Cougars entered the locker room with the lead and the momentum, neither of which would be relinquished.

Joel Martinez rushed for 54 yards and Garza threw for 50 yards, completing 75 percent of his attempts, in what was a more balanced attack from the traditionally ground-oriented Cougars.

"We pride ourselves on the running game and ball possesion," Powell said. "But we brought our passing game with us tonight."

Powell credits this shift to having more options than in the past.

"We're deep in the backfield, deep in receivers, we're two quarterbacks deep now. If one isn't sparking, the other one can," he said.

Powell said the win, which gave Warden a 2-0 record, was one of the biggest on their schedule.

"I still believe (Wahluke) will be right there up at the top with us," he said. "This was the biggest hurdle in my mind."

Warden plays Zillah on the road next week.

"I think this confidence will help us," Powell said. "Obviously, we are going to have to go down there with hard hitting in mind."