Wahluke Warriors football falls to Warden, 36-6

MATTAWA – With no chance of making the post season, the Wahluke Warriors close out their prep football campaign by hosting Kiona-Benton this Friday and traveling to Connell a week later.

That will be tough. Connell is probably the second best team in the state, and Ki-Be is probably third best in the SCAC East.

The Warriors’ fate was sealed last Friday when the Warden Cougars ran away with 36-6 victory.

You could say the triumph was a gift. The Warriors fumbled the ball eight times, and Warden recovered six times. And Wahluke failed to cover two onside kicks for a total of eight turnovers.

“There is no team in the world that can win a game with that many turnovers,” coach Mike Foristiere said. “With that said, I do have to give credit to our defense, which had four red zone stops.”

The defense was tough, indeed. Warden had the ball first-and-goal on the 2-yard line, and the Warriors held on four plays.

“Many times we put our defense in a hole, and they responded,” Foristiere said.

The defense was led by Jose Alejo, who returned for his first game after suffering a knee injury against Zillah. He turned in seven tackles. Jesus Cisneros had six tackles, and Marcos Guerrero and Eli Barajas had five each.

The Wahluke offense did move the ball on possessions on which it didn’t fumble. The Warriors ran off 40 plays, gaining 319 total yards. They completed one of two passes for five yards.

Daniel Ayala rushed for 125 yards, Juan Silva accumulated 70, and Rock Foristiere picked up 81yards.

“We need to go back to basics and just keep working,” Foristiere said.