Wahluke Warriors scores 50 in football, but come up short

MATTAWA – The young Wahluke Warriors are 0-3 in the early prep football season, but their fans have reason to cheer; they are entertaining.

After a 50-37 loss to Cle Elum in their second game, the Warriors followed up last Friday with a 62-50 loss to Burbank.

“On offense we had a monster night,” coach Mike Foristiere said.

Wahluke scored on nearly all of its possessions. One drive ended on a fumble, another with an interception.

The Warriors ran the ball of 564 yards and passed for 90 for a total offense of 654 yards. Quarterback Oscar Rodriguez connected on four of five passes for the 90 yards.

Juan Silva led the rushers with 262 yards and five touchdowns on 27 carries. Rock Foristiere carried 32 times for 170 yards, and Daniel Ayala rushed for 108 yards and two touchdowns in nine carries. The Warriors made four 2-point conversions.

The challenges for the Warriors are on defense. They have given up 175 points in three games. Friday they couldn’t stop the pass, allowing eight airway scores.

“We are very young, and Burbank had a good quarterback and three other skilled players to complement him,” Foristiere said. “For the most part, we were just a step behind, whether we were aligned wrong or not knowing our coverage.”

The leading tacklers were Marco Guerrero and Daniel Ayala with six stops. Rock Foristiere and Juan Silva made five tackles each.

Wahluke plays at River View this Friday. The Panthers started the SCAC East schedule last Friday with a 42-0 conquest of senior-less College Place.

But it’s difficult to assess how tough the Panthers might be. They were crunched in their two non-league games.