Fort Frye’s Grady Hesson (2) races to the end zone on a carry against Warren during Friday’s game in Beverly. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

BEVERLY — Fort Frye’s amazing streak of scoreless defensive quarters came to an end Friday night against the visiting Warren Warriors but their more important streak of winning games continued as they rolled to a 46-8 win.

The Cadets allowed a Warrior touchdown with just 16 seconds to play in the opening half ending their streak at just shy of 24 quarters, the equivalent of six complete football games.

Just because the streak ended didn’t mean the Cadets didn’t play outstanding defensive against Warren by any stretch of the imagination as they forced five Warriors turnovers as they notched their seventh consecutive win.

“Our defense played really well and those turnovers were huge,” said Cadet head coach Eric Huck. “Our offense wasn’t quite as sharp as we’d like in the first half but they played much better in the second.”

The Cadets got off to a great start thanks to back-to-back turnovers on early drives by the Warriors.

Fort Frye’s Tyce Beardsley (4) collides with Warren’s Davin Dickel (5) during Friday’s game in Beverly. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

Junior Sam Bricker intercepted a Declan Johnson pass attempt on the second Warren play from scrimmage.

That Warrior miscue gave the Cadets the ball deep in Warrior territory where it took them six plays to march 21 yards with quarterback Grady Hesson finishing the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.

The Cadets got the ball right back when they forced a Warrior fumble on their next possession once again leaving them with a short field.

Fort Frye started the drive at the Warrior 28 and four plays later Gavin Rauch was in the end zone for a touchdown and with Hesson connecting with Ethan Wagner on the two-point conversion toss the lead had swelled to 15-0.

Warren answered with a strong drive that saw them move the ball all the way down to the Cadets two-yard line.

That drive stretched into the second quarter as the Cadet defense stopped Tanner Pepper short of the goal line, turning the ball back over to them on downs.

Later in the second quarter the Cadets got another huge play from their defense when freshman Clayton Tullius intercepted Johnson’s pass and returned it 62-yards for a touchdown.

It appeared that Tullius and Warrior receiver Davin Dickel both had their hands on the ball at the same time but Tullius wrestled it away and sprinted all of the way down the sidelines 62-yards for a touchdown.

Huck has been impressed all season long with the play that Tullius has provided his defense.

“That happened right in front of us and he reached over the kid and intercepted it and managed to stay on his feet and took off down the sidelines,” said Huck. “He’s only a freshman but he’s been really good this year and just keeps getting better.”

The Cadets added another score later in the half when Wagner hauled in a 4-yard pass from Hesson to make it a 30-0 game with still just over three minutes to play.

Warren got the ball back with just over three minutes to play in the half and quickly moved into Fort Frye territory thanks to long runs from Nick Carr and Pepper.

With just 16 seconds left on the clock in the first half Johnson fired a slant pass that Pepper hauled in and then split the Warrior defense and ran untouched into the end for a 32-yard touchdown snapping their scoreless streak just shy of 24 quarters of football.

“To be honest I felt like that was more our offense’s fault because we needed to get a first down or two and get to the half,” said Huck. “It was something they took pride in and our defense has been great all season long.”

Any chances of a Warren second half comeback were quickly swatted away thanks to a pair of third quarter touchdown runs by Tyce Beardsley to put the Cadets in front by 38 and put the running clock in motion.

The win left the Cadets with a 7-1 record and also made them champions of the Twin States League for the second season in a row.

“We meet with the seniors each year and set our goals and winning the TSL is the first one,” said Huck. “It’s big for us and I’m proud of these guys and we still have another league game next week.”

The Warriors fell to 2-7 on the season and will match up with arch-rival Marietta next Friday night,

Fort Frye will play Point Pleasant next Friday in a final tune-up before going into the post season the following week.

“The guys are so dedicated… I tried to give them the day off tomorrow and they wanted to come in and watch film,” said Huck. “They are all about and they are hungry and I’m excited to see what they can do.”