Warren East righted the ship on Thursday evening, bouncing back from two straight losses of less than three points by storming onto Joe Hood Field and taking down Warren Central 33-0.
The Raiders came out on fire, putting up 23 points in the first quarter while keeping the Dragons out of the end zone – and for the most part, the red zone – all night long.
“I’m happy for our kids. It’s a good way to start off fall break,” Warren East head coach Jeff Griffth said. “We got a good win tonight after two tough losses to some really good football teams.”
Much of the credit went to the emergence of freshman quarterback Nolan Ford in place of Dwayne Cook, who missed his second straight game on Thursday evening with a broken jaw.
Ford completed 11-of-19 passes on the evening for 140 yards, including a 56-yard touchdown toss to Thomas Maxey.
“[Nolan] has really come along in a very short period of time,” Griffith said. “When we had to throw him to the wolves against Glasgow, he wasn’t really prepared for what we expected out of him, and that was our fault. The last two weeks, he has really gone to work and I was really impressed by what he did tonight.”
After the Dragons (0-7) started off the game with a punt, Maxey scampered for 23 yards to set up a five-yard Trevor Naftel touchdown run to quickly get the Raiders on the board, a blocked extra point making the lead 6-0.
On Warren East’s ensuing possession, Ford hit Maxey for the 56-yard touchdown pass to put the Raiders up 13-0.
Naftel scored his second touchdown of the game with 11:06 to go in the 2nd quarter, strolling in from nine yards out to put the Raiders on top 20-0.
East (4-3) increased their lead to 30-0 with 8:02 to go in the 4th quarter, chasing Warren Central quarterback Jamale Barber to the back of the end zone before his pass attempt was batted into the air and picked off by Colson Elkins for a touchdown.
“I told Colson that the football Gods sort of smiled down on him at that moment,” Griffith joked. “We have been on the opposite end of some of those plays this year, so we will definitely take it.”
Naftel carried the ball 18 times for 100 yards and two touchdowns on the evening while Maxey carried the ball 16 times for 94 yards to complement two catches for 64 yards and a score.
For Warren Central, running back DJ Tyner ran for 62 yards on 16 carries while Barber was 9-for-19 passing with 93 yards. Xavier Patrick-Brown had three catches for 62 yards while also grabbing an interception on defense.
The Dragons will get a week off before traveling to take on Franklin-Simpson on Friday, Oct. 13. The Raiders will also be off until that date in which they will host Allen County-Scottsville.
“We’re going to take fall break as a time to re-charge our batteries a bit,” Griffith said. “When we get back from fall break, we will go back to work to get ready for Allen County.”
