CUBA CITY — The Homecoming celebration started off early for Black Hawk/Warren on Saturday afternoon.
The Division 7 #5-ranked Warriors ripped off long touchdowns runs on their first three possessions to rush out to a 24-0 lead, and then put on the cruise control from there en route to a 32-12 victory over the Southwestern/East Dubuque WarBirds in their Six Rivers Conference opener at Murphy Field on Sept. 17.
“I told the boys after the game, ‘Happy, but not satisfied’, and then I explained that I was happy with the result, but not satisfied with the way we played. We played very well at times, but we were not consistent with our play, especially late in the game,” said Warriors’ head coach Desie Breadon.
The Warriors (4-1 overall, 1-0 SRC) started their first drive from their own 2-yard line but quickly made their way up the field, covering the 98 yards in just seven plays to pull in front to stay. Senior quarterback Reed McNutt capped the drive with a 42-yard scamper and senior Lucas Milz added the two-point conversion to make it 8-0 with 7:17 left in the opening quarter.
Senior Landen Mahoney broke loose for a 54-yard scoring jaunt with just under three minutes remaining in the opening quarter, while Milz reeled off a 30-yard TD run on the opening play of the second quarter to put the Warriors ahead 24-0. Mahoney added a two-run following his score, and McNutt completed a conversion pass to senior Seth Dunlavey after Milz’s run.
After rolling up 234 yards on their first three drives— all on the ground except for two 15-yard penalties on the WarCats, the Warriors were held to 137 yards on their final seven possessions, including 93 total yards on five second-half drives as SWED sold out to stop the run and also kept their passing in check.
“(They are) a good team and well coached. We knew it was going to be a traditional smashmouth football type of game, which is what we like,” Breadon stated.
The WarCats (3-2, 0-1) put together just two sustained drives on offense all day— one in each half— and capped each one with a touchdown pass from senior QB Parker Shireman. Junior Wyatt Kruser hauled in a 30-yard scoring strike from Shireman with 7:35 to go in the first half to put the guests on the scoreboard, and sophomore Brody Culbertson gathered in a 19-yard TD catch between a pair of Warrior defenders with 9:15 remaining to close the scoring in the game.
The WarCats gained 119 of their 158 total yards on those two scoring drives, but were held without a first down on six of their other eight possessions.
The lone score for the Warriors in the second half came two plays after freshman Jeremiah Collins recovered a fumble to the WarCats’ 24. Dunlavey had a 23-yard catch to get the hosts down to the 1, and McNutt punched it in from there to put the Warriors up 32-6 with 2:16 to go in the third quarter.
“Overall, we played pretty well on defense and played good on offense in the first half,” commented Breadon. “We have the meat of our schedule the next couple of weeks, so there is no time for let down. We need to keep improving daily and not take any steps back.”
Mahoney led a balanced rushing attack with 130 yards and a score of 18 carries. Milz chipped in with 114 yards on 16 carries with a TD, and McNutt ran nine times for 90 yards and two scores while also completing 4-of-8 passes for 41 yards.
Shireman connected on 7-of-16 passing attempts for 82 yards and two scores. Culbertson led the WarCats with two catches for 44 yards and a TD, and Kruser added one catch for 30 yards and a TD.
The guests finished with 76 rushing yards with sophomore Evan Mead toting the ball 16 times for 56 yards to lead the way.
The Warriors travel to Patch Grove on Friday, Sept. 23, to take on the unbeaten and D7 #10-ranked River Ridge Timberwolves (5-0, 1-0) in a Six Rivers clash. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
