Already hosting a first-round playoff game next week, Warren East had nothing to lose Friday night its regular-season finale.
The Raiders, who hosted Bardstown at Jim Ross Field for Senior Night, could have treated the matchup as just another game. Instead, East treated it as if it were the final game of its season, firing on all cylinders — even in nasty weather conditions — to roll to a 36-6 win over the Tigers.
“I think we came out and played well, even though the weather conditions were terrible,” Warren East coach Jeff Griffith said. “I feel like we played well offensively, defensively and on special teams. You know, Senior Night and those guys wanted to play well.
In his final regular-season contest at the Raiders’ new stadium, senior running back Trevor Naftel led the way for Warren East. The versatile back run rushed for 87 yards and two touchdowns while junior Thomas Maxey ran for 58 yards and a TD, making for a strong outing for East’s ground game.
Although the downpour could have caused some struggles with ball security, the rain and wind certainly didn’t effect the Raiders. They had previous experience playing in bad weather prior to Friday, as the forecast was quite similar when they hosted Wayne County back on Sept. 1.
“It feels great (to win like this) on Senior Night,” Naftel said. “Bad conditions, but we were immune to it after playing Wayne County earlier in the season. We had the ball on our side of the 50 pretty much the whole game. It was easy to score because the defense was playing great.”
Naftel and Warren East’s offense had a big night, but it was a stout defense that placed the offensive unit in great positions.
Junior linebacker Preston Tarrence emerged as a dominant defender, recording a 38-yard interception return for a TD while blocking two punts and recording a handful of tackles. Additionally, senior Isaiah Boards continued to be the leader of a strong Raider line.
“I just want to thank my teammates for putting me in the position to make all of those plays,” Tarrence said. “I just had a bad back injury and just came off that. I want to thank God and the trainer for helping me a lot in that — and I just got lucky.”
Warren East took an early 2-0 lead after Bardstown committed a bad snap on a punt attempt and the Raiders recovered the loose ball in the end zone for a safety. Then a 50-yard drive for Naftel just before the end of the first quarter — which included a 20-yard TD run — had his team leading 9-0.
After just two short plays in the first 18 seconds of the second, a 7-yard TD run by Maxey pushed East’s lead to 16-0. Prior to his score, freshman quarterback Nolan Ford hit senior wide receiver Caleb Huskey with a pass from 16 yards out to set up Maxey.
Ford threw for just 21 yards, but scored on a one-yard run late in the second quarter. All of Ford’s 21 yards went to Huskey.
“We came out there ready to play and had some momentum,” said Tarrence when asked about the play of not only him, but his teammates. “(Naftel) is a big help to us all. We really need him and wish he could come back next year, but he’s moving on to bigger and better things.”
Tarrence’s pick-six on Tigers’ quarterback Brady Clark came at 10:41 mark of the quarter to put East up 23-0. Ford’s touchdown run an Naftel’s second score — a four-yarder — gave the Raiders a 36-0 advantage at halftime and it stood throughout the running-clocked second half.
Because of the way they came out and executed, the Raiders now have plenty of momentum entering next Friday’s meeting with Hopkinsville in the Class 4A state playoffs, set for a 7 p.m. kickoff on their own “Smurf Turf.”
“We’re glad to be at home,” said Griffith. “We’re going to be playing a Hoptown team that’s very athletic. We just have to get back in here and get to work and prepare for them.”
Tyler Mansfield; @_TylerMansfield
