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Warriors score Week 1 win
beau podnar
Black Hawk-Warren’s Beau Podnar scores during his team’s 24-19 win over Southwestern-East Dubuque on Aug. 22 in Hazel Green. Podnar ran for two touchdowns and threw for another to propel the Warriors. - photo by Casey Lindecrantz

Area Scoreboard, Week 1

●  Lodi 21, Monroe 14

●  Black Hawk-Warren 24, Southwestern-East Dubque 19

●  New Glarus 49, Pecatonica-Argyle 0

●  Lancaster 28, Belleville 26

●  Darlington 63, Platteville 33

●  Edgerton 28, Brodhead-Juda 0

●  Turner 34, Parkview-Albany 20

●  Highland 52, Monticello 14 (8-Player)

HAZEL GREEN — The Black Hawk-Warren Warriors started out their football season by going on the road and getting a 24-19 win over the Southwestern-East Dubuque WarCats in nonconference action on Friday, Aug. 22. Last year, the WarCats upset the Warriors in the season opener, 28-20. 

Midway through the first quarter on Friday, the Warriors took a 6-0 lead as sophomore quarterback Beau Podnar scored on a one-yard touchdown run. The try for a two-point conversion failed. About five minutes later, Southwestern-East Dubuque got on the board as quarterback Zander Tierney raced 66 yards for a touchdown. The extra point was good to give the WarCats a 7-6 lead.

In the second quarter, BHW re-gained the lead as senior Bryce VanRaalte hauled in a 39-yard touchdown pass from Podnar. Senior Jacob Woodruff scored the two-point extra point and with 6:42 before halftime, the Warriors led, 14-7. 

The score remained 14-7 until 8:19 left in the game when the Warriors’ defense same up with a safety, giving BHW a 16-7 lead. Podnar gave the Warriors some more breathing room with his second touchdown of the night on a one-yard run, and sophomore Dax Paquin added a two-point extra point to put the Warriors ahead 24-7 with 4:47 remaining. 

SWED tried to rally in the final minutes as Tierney threw a 69-yard touchdown pass to Carsen Splinter with 4:13 left in the game. A two-point extra point try failed and the Warriors led 24-13. Tierney and Splinter connected again on a 30-yard touchdown pass with 1:36 left, but the try for two failed. The Warriors then ran out the clock to claim the Week 1 win.

BHW delivered a strong running game as Dax Paquin rushed 17 times for 115 yards, Jacob Woodruff ran 18 times for 65 yards and Podnar carried the ball 13 times for 47 yards and two touchdowns. Podnar completed 3 of 4 passes for 76 yards and a touchdown. Jackson Berget had two catches for 42 yards and Bryce VanRaalte had one catch for 39 yards and a touchdown.

Warriors head coach Desie Breadon was pleased with the win, but said there is still work to be done and improvement is still needed. 

“Overall, I’m really happy coming out with the win, but not satisfied with the way we played. We need to clean up a lot of technique and execution. We have a lot of inexperience right now, but guys are continually improving,” said Breadon. “They stepped up at critical points and didn’t quit, which is a great sign. I told them after the game that we all made mistakes in the game, coaches included, and the biggest thing is we learn from those mistakes and don’t continue to make them.”

There was a lot of learning on the fly by the Warriors, Breadon said. Next for Black Hawk-Warren is a trip to Westby to take on the Norsemen in a nonconference game Aug. 29. 

“We have moved a lot of guys to different spots or they’ve had to play multiple spots in the last week and a half. Making those changes paid off big,” said Breadon. “We need to get after things this week and get ready for another big challenge against another bigger school in Westby.”