Warden beats River View with late touchdown pass

WARDEN — Tanner Skone had run for two touchdowns and passed for another at this point. But he’d also thrown four interceptions, including two drive-killers on the goal line.

The 6-foot-3 Warden quarterback stood in the shot-gun on fourth-and-4 on the River View 7-yard line with 47 seconds left and the Cougars trailing 28-25.

Skone delivered a fastball to Zach Richins on the slant route for the game-winner and the Cougars (4-2 SCAC East) overcame a 14-point deficit with four second-half scores.

“I have full faith in my receivers in clutch moments and they pulled it off,” Skone said. “I looked off the middle safety and saw Zach with inside position on the corner. I put it on him and he came up with it for the touchdown.”

Adam Richins had a monster night, including a 29-yard touchdown reception on the first drive of the third quarter. But when Warden coach Robert Arredondo decided to roll the dice on fourth down instead of a game-tying field goal attempt, he weighed out his options and called the younger Richins’ number.

“Everyone in the league knows Adam’s going to get the ball with the game on the line,” said Arrendondo, whose team kept pace for the third spot in the SCAC East. “Everyone in the stadium knows Adam’s going to get the ball. It was about match-ups and going where we had the advantage.

“All season, wins or losses, we have scored on the last drive. So we were calm on the final play.”

The Cougars misfired on first-and-10 on the 14 when Adam Richins broke free on the crossing route in the end zone. They had another incompletion, before Skone picked up seven yards on the keeper to set up the final play.

“I came off the line and got the inside position,” said Zach Richins, who had a 40-yard catch on the final drive. “I remember thinking the whole game depended on me and I needed to do what I had to do to win it. Tanner put it on me. I had to make a little move to get to the end zone. It was great.”

As it turned out, it was the sophomore with the game-winning touchdown catch on Senior Night and the Cougars held off a team with only one previous win coming in. They didn’t take their first lead until the fourth quarter and the came up big in the end.

“It was great to come out and fight with my brothers one last time at home on Senior Night,” Skone said. “To be able to connect one more time and get that ‘W’ was pretty special.”

Skone had touchdown passes of 29 and 7 yards. He also rushed for two scores on 1-yard quarterback keepers. Jaimisen Harris had the first Cougar touchdown of the night, scoring on a 6-yard reverse in the first quarter.

Warden trailed 21-6 at the intermission, but made a couple of key defensive adjustments. Arredondo switched Edgar Alba from safety to cornerback. The 5-8 senior made a play on a Panther (1-5) fourth-and-goal pass in the end zone to prevent a score and came away with the pass interception to clinch the game in the final seconds. The Cougars wrap up the regular season on the road Friday night at Kiona Benton.

Score by quarters River View 14 7 0 7 — 28 Warden 6 0 12 14 — 32

Scoring summary RV — Carlos Vazquez 62 run (Spencer Weatherby run), 7:50 RV — Vazquez 17 pass from T.J. Kilthau (kick failed), 3:44 W — Jaimisen Harris 6 run (pass fails) :9.5 RV — Kaden Lee 6 run (Lee kick), 9:40 W — Adam Richins 29 pass from Tanner Skone (run fails), 6:55 W — Skone 1 run (pass fails), 2:02 W — Skone 1 run (Johnathan Jaime kick), 11:14 RV — Lee 1 run (Lee kick), 7:05 W — Zach Richins 7 pass from Skone (Johnathan Jaime kick), 42.1