Big Crowd On Hand For Lumberjack Win

Quarterback and Arkansas Superior Federal Credit Union Player of the Game, Hayden Lassiter, connects with
Braden Hargis for an early Lumberjack touchdown Friday against Watson Chapel.

A very large crowd of Lumberjack fans was on hand Friday night, September 16th to cheer on the team as they defeated the Wildcats of Watson Chapel 52-32.  It was the first regular season senior game to be played on the newly renovated Jim Hurley, Jr. field.  It was a decent weather night while still fairly warm for football.

Watson Chapel received the opening kickoff, and Warren's defense shut them down in three plays.  However, the Lumberjacks muffed the punt, and Watson Chapel recovered.  On the first play, the Chapel quarterback ran 40 yards for a touchdown.  The extra point was no good, and Chapel took a 6-0 lead.

Dennis Daniels powers through for more yardage.

Warren took the kickoff and drove the field.  At the 8:26 mark, Hayden Lassiter ran for six yards and a touchdown.  Sergio Yepes made the extra point, and the Jacks took a 7-6 lead.  Moments later, Warren recovered a fumble and at the 4:31 mark, Lassiter  passed to Braden Hargis for a TD, and the PAT was good to put Warren up 14-6.  Before the quarter ended, Lassiter threw a 48-yard strike to Hargis and with the point after being good, the Lumberjacks stretched the lead to 21-6.

With the Jack defense playing excellent football, Warren got the ball back, and Dennis Daniels scored from eight yards, and the extra point by Yepes put Warren ahead 28-6.  With 4:02 remaining in the second quarter, Warren recovered another fumble and shortly thereafter, Lassiter threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Treylon Burks, and after another successful kick by Yepes, Warren held a commanding 35-6 advantage.

As impressive as Warren was in the first half, Watson Chapel seemed to get it together in the third quarter and made a game of it.  The Lumberjacks were stopped on three downs and had to punt.  The punt was blocked and recovered for a touchdown by Watson Chapel.  The PAT was missed and the game remained 35-12.  On Warren's next possession, the Jacks again failed to get a first down and had to punt.  Chapel ran the punt back 49 yards for a TD and scored a two point conversion to cut the score to 35-20.  Warren finally put a drive together that resulted in a 31-yard field goal by Yepes to up the lead to 38-20.  With 1:36 left to play in the third quarter, Chapel threw a 20-yard pass for a touchdown and missed the two-point try to cut the score to 38-26.

Lumberjack defense closes in on Chapel runner.

In the fourth quarter Watson Chapel hit a six yard pass for a touchdown and again failed on the PAT to make the score 38-32 in Warren's favor.  The Warren offense seemed to find it's rhythm, and with 6:43 remaining in the game, Lassiter hit Burks for 34 yards and a TD, and Yepes made the point after to put Warren ahead 45-32.  At the 4:52 mark, Lassiter struck again with a beautiful 35-yard pass to McKnight, who made a great catch and run to make the score 52-32 after Yepes converted.

Dennis Daniels had another great game running for 196 yards on 26 carries.  He caught several passes and scored one touchdown.  Hayden Lassiter ran for 55 yards and a touchdown while throwing for 220 yards and five scores on 12 for 23 passing.  The Lumberjack defense played solid most of the game with Treylon Burks, the defensive line, linebackers and defensive backs all competing well.  The Lumberjack offensive line made some holes and played overall very well.

Warren is now 3-0 in non-conference play and faces Crossett next week to begin 84A conference competition.  The game is at Crossett.