Cadets hold on to defeat Warren
Trending
VINCENT -- Sometimes the very best defense can be an effective offense that keeps the opposing offense off of the field.
After allowing three first half touchdowns to the high-powered Warren offense, Fort Frye controlled the clock in the second half and kept the Warriors off the scoreboard en route to a 27-20 win to improve to 2-0 on the season.
The Cadets jumped out to an early 15-0 lead thanks to first quarter touchdown runs by junior quarterback Ian Ellis and sophomore running back Owen Brown and appeared to be well on their way to a dominating win before the Warriors offense came alive in a big way.
One play after Brown's 39-yard touchdown run, Warren jumped right back into the game on a quick slant from quarterback Kurt Taylor to fellow senior Evan Gandee, who out-raced the Cadet defense for a 69-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 15-6.
The Warrior defense gave them the ball right back when junior defensive back Derek McAfee intercepted Ellis deep in Cadet territory.
Two plays later Taylor struck again as he connected with fellow senior Joel Chevalier to cut the lead to just two with 21 seconds to play in the opening quarter.
Warren missed an opportunity to take their first lead of the night when Chevalier came up short on a 38-yard field goal attempt but cashed in on their next possession after the defense stuffed the Cadets on a fake punt attempt.
Taylor followed by finding Gandee once again on a 30-yard touchdown pass to stake claim to a 20-15 lead with just under six minutes to play in the half.
After coming up empty on three straight possessions, the Fort offense got back in sync as they put together a long 64-yard, 12-play drive capped by a 3-yard touchdown run by Brown to send the visitors to the intermission with a 21-20 lead.
Fort Frye head coach Eric Huck felt it was important to re-establish some momentum heading into the locker room.
"It was big to drive the whole field and get a score right there before the half," said Huck, who chalked up victory number 101 of his career. "Our guys were confident at halftime we knew we just needed to fix some mistakes and we would be alright."
After the wild first 24 minutes that saw the two Washington County rivals combine for six touchdowns, the Cadets would produce the only points of the second half as junior Maeson Long scored on a 13-yard run on just the second play of the final quarter.
Long's run capped a 68-yard drive that saw the Cadets chew up more than six minutes of clock as they ran 18 offensive plays in the third quarter compared to just six for the home team.
Fort Frye failed to convert the two-point conversion giving Warren a chance to at least tie the game if they managed to get the ball into the end zone.
That quest would fall far short as the Warriors were unable to move the ball past the Fort Frye 43-yard line the rest of the way as the Cadet defense was up to the challenge to secure the win.
"I think we tried to over -coach our guys a little bit in the first half and Coach (Chad) Ross did a really good job of adjusting the defense in the second half," said Huck. "Our defense stepped up big and did what we needed to do."
The Cadet defense limited the high-powered Warrior offense to 253 total yards in the game with all but 13 of them coming through the air as the Warren running game was held in check.
Warren head coach Matt Kimes felt his team left it all on the field in it's effort to score a win against a Cadet team that simply doesn't lose in the regular season.
"I told the guys I'm proud to be their ball coach. They earned some respect from a lot of people tonight… I'm not sure how many people thought we could hang with those guys," said Kimes, in his second season as Warren head coach. "I'm very proud of our effort. I don't know if they (Fort Frye) are better they were just better tonight."
Fort Frye piled up a typical 283 rushing yards led by Brown with 124 yards on 17 carries and senior Brian Adkins with 14 carries for 84 yards.
Ellis completed 6-of-8 pass attempts for 63 yards with three of them going to Jaymison Baker for 27 yards.
Taylor completed his first eight passes of the game and ended the game 15-for-24 for 240 yards and three touchdowns while Gandee hauled down eight passes for 162 yards.
Warren will travel to Logan Friday night while the Cadets visit Caldwell.