Wahluke ushers in Ryan Antos Era with a win

WAPATO — The Wahluke Warriors kicked off the Ryan Antos Era with a bang Friday night, shutting down and nearly shutting out Wapato in a 23-7 victory on the road in a nonleague game to open the 2018 season. The first-year head coach was happy with what he saw from a team working a brand new offense for the first time under game conditions. “We still intend to pass quite a bit this season, but offensive line was just so dominant at the line of scrimmage, we ended up running for 349 yards,” Antos said. “Both Jose Celaya and Dominic Gray ran the ball hard all night.” Celaya, a 5-foot-6, 160-pound junior quarterback rushed for 141 yards on 20 carries and Gray carried the ball times for 94 yards. Where the Warriors’ offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage, the Wahluke defense just dominated. Linebacker Gerardo Ledezma, a 5-11, 230-pound senior, scored on a defensive touchdown. Danny Ayala led the team in tackles with nine and nose guard Pedro Castaneda was a huge run stopper in the middle. “Defensive coordinator Joe Wirtzberger had the defense fired up,” Antos sad. “We didn’t allow a defensive point. They finally scored on a pick-six, but our defense pitched a shutout.” The road doesn’t get any easier for the Warriors. They host Granger on Friday for their 2018 home opener, they travel to Royal City to face the three-time defending 1A state champion Royal nights (Sept. 14). They host perennial state tournament contender Connell (Sept. 21) and wrap up Sept. 28 at Benton City against Kiona-Benton.