Cougars break through for first win of 2010

PATEROS - After a two-week barrage of losing to quality

competition, the Warden Cougars found their groove on Friday night

and broke into the win-column on Friday night.

PATEROS - After a two-week barrage of losing to quality competition, the Warden Cougars found their groove on Friday night and broke into the win-column on Friday night.

Behind a strong passing game and an improved handle on the football the Cougars came away from Pateros with a 26-7 win over the host Goats.

Warden (1-2) and Pateros battled it out to a scoreless tie through the game's first 12 minutes before the Cougars found their rhythm.

A 20-point eruption in the second quarter put the Cougars in the driver's seat.

"We did a great job of tackling and we continue to improve on defense by leaps and bounds," Warden head coach Erik Skone said. "Kids are in the right places and making plays including three interceptions."

Warden jumped out on top when J.P. Martinez caught a 60-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Trent Bates for a 6-0 lead.

Bates continued his air mastery when he connected with Victor Flores on a 40-yard strike and Warden led 13-0.

The Cougars headed into the locker room with another Bates-Flores connection, this time on a 17-yard touchdown with just over a minute before halftime.

"They have actually got their own little signal so if they want to change the play," Skone said. "On the 17-yard play they threw an out instead of a go. I love it and their leadership has definitely stepped up."

Flores completed his night by catching eight passes for 114 yards.

Running back Scott Henderson finished the Cougars' scoring with a strong three-yard run in the third quarter to make the score 26-0.

Bates wrapped up the night by going 14-for-26 for 203 yards and those three touchdown passes. He also ran eight times for 18 yards.

"His game has been getting a lot better," Skone said. "He still has a couple of things he needs to clean up. He needs to have his ‘A' game all the time. But he has definitely been getting better over the last couple of weeks. He looks like he is getting comfortable back there, when he wasn't before."

Henderson led the Warden rushing attack with 46 yards on 12 carries as the Cougars went over the century-mark with 104 yards on the ground.

Skone noted that his team did not fumble all game long and had only four penalties called against them.

"That is a huge improvement from the previous games," Skone said.

The Warden defense, on the flip side, forced six Pateros fumbles and held the Goats to 34 yards rushing on 32 carries and picked three passes.

"The week in practice was the biggest reason for this win," Skone said. "We practiced with a vengenance and the work has started to pay off because we are in better condition than we were the first couple of weeks. The kids created a massive work ethic in practice which was created by the setting of goals and they are working towards them."

Eden Duarte led the Warden defense with 12 tackles and according to Skone, made "plays including knocking a number of balls down and sacking the quarterback."

"The defense seems to be on the same page and starting to react," Skone said. "It was probably our best game tackling for a couple years."

With their first win of 2011 under their belt, the Cougars hope to continue to build on their recent success.

"People know what they are supposed to be doing and it's becoming second nature," Skone said. "Now they aren't thinking and playing, they are just going out and playing. It's a big win with the hard work the players and coaches are putting in.

"You see the pay off, but we've got a lot more work to do."

Next up for the Warden, the Cougars host Brewster on Friday night at 7 p.m. before they kick-off the start of their first campaign as a member of the Central Washington 2B South league.