Lumberjacks Clinch Sole Championship of 8AAAA

Running back Dennis Daniels breaks free for a Lumberjack touchdown early Thursday night.

The Warren Lumberjack football team went into Thursday night's game against Dollarway assured of the #1 seed in the upcoming class AAAA playoffs.  The team was undefeated in the conference and nothing that could happen in the Dollarway game would change Warren's seeding.  A loss, however, could have put Warren and Hamburg in a tie for the conference title.  The Jacks settled that quickly by jumping out to a 35-0 lead at halftime and cruising to a 56-28 win that was not as close as it sounds

Warren returned the opening kickoff deep into Dollarway territory but bogged down offensively and kicked a 23-yard field goal to take a 3-0 early lead.  With nine minutes remaing in the first quarter the Lumberjack defense recorded a safety, and the lead went to 5-0.  Shortly thereafter, Lumberjack quarterback Hayden Lassiter threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to freshman Braden Curry, just up from Warren's 8AAAA championship Jr. High team.  The Jacks went for two, and Lassiter hit Keemontrae McKnight with a three-yard pass for the successful conversion.  Warren went up 13-0. With 5:45 left in the first quarter, Dennis Daniels raced 26 yards for a touchdown, and Lassiter ran in the two-point conversion to pad the lead to 21-0.

Warren's defense, led by Greyson Ashcraft and Ardarius Harding
were on fire against the Cardinals, shutting next-to-everything down.

Warren's defense continued to dominate with great play at every position, including a big sack by Grayson Ashcraft, and the Jacks had the ball on offense once again.  Another freshman from the Jr. team came in at quarterback and promptly threw his first touchdown pass as a high school player. J'Malachi Kinnard threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Treylon Burks, another ninth grader who has played all year with the Sr. team, and Sergio Yepes made the PAT. Warren went up 28-0.

In the second quarter the Lumberjacks recovered a Dollarway fumble, and after a great run by Daniels and a fine catch by Curry, Deangelo McCoy ran in a touchdown from the one and Yepes kicked Warren to a 35-0 score.  Before the half ended, the ninth grader Curry intercepted a Cardinal pass.  The Lumberjacks went to the locker room up 35-0.

Dollarway received the opening second-half kickoff, and against a number of second teamers and 9th graders playing defense for the Jacks quickly scored on an 81-yard run and a successful two-point conversion.  The score was now 35-8 with the clock running due to the sportsmanship rule.  Warren punted after playing offense with second team and ninth graders, and Dollarway again scored on a 65- yard run and made the two point PAT to make the score 35-14 in Warren's favor.  With 4:43 remaing in the third quarter, Dennis Daniels ripped off a 50-yard touchdown run, and Yepes made the score 42-14 with the PAT.  In the fourth quarter, Dollarway made a touchdown from the one-yard line and made the two points to make it a 42-22 game.  With 7:16 left Lassiter threw a 50-yard pass to Burks for another Warren touchdown, and Yepes was good on the kick to run the score to 48-22. Warren then recovered a fumble on the kickoff and was back on offense at the Cardinal 37-yard line. Hayden Lassiter passed 17 yards to Braden Curry for another TD, and Yepes converted to put the score at 56-22.  As the game expired, Dollarway had a 47 yard touchdown run to leave the final score 56-28.

Kicker Sergio Yepes was named ASFCU co-player of the
game after a perfect night on PATs.

The game was not as close as the score might indicate as the Lumberjack coaches played a lot of young players and a number of 9th graders fresh off the Jr. High team.  Several of the ninth graders contributed on special teams as many Warren starters were rested after a very physical regular season.

Thus the Lumberjacks won the 8AAAA outright and finished the season undefeated in conference with an overall record of 9-1.  Not bad for a team picked by the experts to be fourth best in the conference.  Warren's young but talented team played outstanding and the coaching staff did a truly remarkable job.  The 2015 season has to be one of the best coaching jobs accomplished by Coach Hembree in his 16 years at Warren High School, and that says a lot when considering his overall record.

The Lumberjacks now get a week off, no game next Friday as the team earned a bye.  Warren will host a second round playoff game on November 20th at Jim Hurley, Jr. Stadium against an opponent to be determined.  Keep your calendars clear, there is more Lumberjack football to play.