The Warren East defense would not let up on their home field on Friday night, stifling an extremely talented Allen County-Scottsville team in a 17-13 win to earn a home playoff game in three weeks.
Playing against prolific quarterback Chase Wilson, the Raiders (5-3) did everything they possibly could to keep the Patriot offense in check and found tremendous success doing that, especially from Gregory Barnes, who had four interceptions.
“Losing our quarterback and not having all of our receivers healthy made it really important for us to come out and play hard defensively,” the senior defensive back Barnes said. “We made plays and that’s all that matters in a game like this.”
Warren East gave up all of the Patriots’ 13 points in the second quarter, a 70-yard touchdown strike from Wilson to Carson Taylor and a tremendous 26-yard grab in the back of the end zone by Cayden Ross on 3rd and 24.
[Chase Wilson] is such a dynamic player, and I’m so proud of the effort that the kids put in to be able to slow him down like we did tonight,” Warren East head coach Jeff Griffith said. “We wanted to play some coverage and also be able to get some pressure on him and I thought we did a great job of mixing that up for the most part.”
After a scoreless first quarter, the Raiders drove all the way down to the Allen County-Scottsville one-yard line, where quarterback Nolan Ford took it in from that distance to put Warren East up 7-0 with 6:10 to go in the second quarter.
The Patriots would answer on the ensuing drive, Wilson finding Taylor all alone down the sideline on 3rd and 15 for a 70-yard score to knot the game up 7-7.
After a Warren East punt, Allen County-Scottsville struck again, Wilson finding Ross in the back of the end zone for an acrobatic 26-yard touchdown grab to extend their lead to 13-7 after a missed extra point.
Late in the third quarter, Caleb Huskey climbed over a Patriot to make an outstanding 31-yard touchdown catch on 4th and 12, putting the Raiders up 14-13.
After a Patriot fumble, Warren East took over at the Allen County-Scottsville eight-yard line only to be pushed back by penalties, settling for a 33-yard Eddie Cano field goal to put the Raiders up 17-13 in the fourth quarter.
Warren East finished the evening with 310 yards of offense. The Raiders compiled 185 yards on the ground behind Trevor Naftel, who had 14 carries for 76 yards, and Thomas Maxey, who carried the ball 14 times for 60 yards. Ford completed 12-of-21 passes for 125 yards, one score, and one pick.
Allen County-Scottsville (5-3) totaled 241 yards of offense on the evening. Taylor pulled in four catches for 103 yards including the 70-yard touchdown grab. Ross added three catches for 55 yards including his 26-yard touchdown catch in the back of the end zone on 3rd and 24. Wilson completed 10-of-24 touchdowns for 187 yards and two touchdowns along with five interceptions.
The Raiders will hit the road next Friday to take on Franklin-Simpson while Allen County-Scottsville will try to get back on a winning track on the road against Warren Central.
“[The seniors] have been through a lot here in the last four years,” Griffith said. “They’ve had three head coaches they’ve had to play for and have gone through the transitions of all of the facilities. They’ve earned the right to host that home playoff game.”
