SOUTH WAYNE — When Black Hawk-Warren beat Reedsville 36-7 on Friday, Nov. 10, it represented more than just one week’s worth of effort. The victory harkened back to Sept. 30 when the Warriors lost 41-20 to Potosi-Cassville in the regular season. Despite two weeks left of Six Rivers Conference play, the game essentially decided the conference winner.
“This is a shoutout to the team,” captain Lane Marty said after his team’s Level 4 win. “That loss (to Potosi-Cassville) sucked, but everyone knew we could do it. We came back stronger than ever. We looked at playoffs and saw we had a shot. We didn’t look back and took it one week at a time.”
The Warriors, a No. 3 seed, hosted Seneca-Wauzeka-Stueben in Level 1. Despite offensive miscues, Black Hawk-Warren’s defense shutout the Blue-Golds en route to 26-0 win. The Warriors hit the road in Level 2, upsetting No. 2-seed Johnson Creek 48-20.
The victory set up a rematch against the top-seeded Chieftains. There, the Warriors flipped the script and shut out their conference rival 36-0.
“After the loss to Potosi-Cassville (in the regular season) it was a team effort to improve,” junior Owen Seffrood said. “Everyone at practice the next week had absurd energy. We knew what we were capable of. It was nice to get revenge on them as well in playoffs.”
The team mindset, which was introduced at the beginning of the year in the team motto 11 players 1 heartbeat, continued into Level 4.
Black Hawk-Warren head coach Desmond Breadon utilized a variety of players — from scout team players during the week to second- and third-string players to give his starters a rest during the game — to get the win.
“Whether they were on the field or not, even if it was just for a kickoff, they did their job,” Breadon said. “We don’t win games if we don’t get looks from our scout team.”
While the team celebrated its victory in the present moment, many of the athletes remembered the last time Black Hawk-Warren made state in 2019. At the time, Marty and Seffrood were managers.
“Owen and I managed together, and we saw a team go to state,” Marty said. “Ever since then, we’ve fallen in love with football. We knew when we were older, we wanted to do the same.”
Now, Marty and Seffrood are examples for the next managers to come.
“When we go visit the kids and they give us posters, it will really begin to set in — the effect we have on our school and community.”
Like Marty and Seffrood, Breadon fondly remembers the 2018 and 2019 trips to state. At the time, he was an assistant coach to Cory Milz. Breadon also played in a state football game twice for Monroe.
“I was lucky enough to go twice as a player in Monroe and then to go twice as an assistant under Cory,” Breadon said. “Now, as a head coach, it’s a dream. I’ve been dreaming about this for 19 years since I started coaching.”
Breadon and the Warriors will face an all too familiar opponent in Edgar. Black Hawk-Warren faced Edgar both its 2018 and 2019 trips to state, defeating the Wildcats 22-15 and 6-0, respectively.
