Dayton Chronicle - Your Hometown News Source

WAITSBURG–The Warden Cougars came to town and went home with a 54-0 win over the Dayton-Waitsburg Wolfpack in a game that started out looking to be a fairly even contest. The game was played here Thursday, September 30.

The Wolfpack is now 1-2 overall, 0-1 in conference play as they anticipate visiting TriCities Prep this Friday in Pasco at the Chiawana H.S. football field. Kick off will be at 7 p.m.

"We knew exactly what Warden runs and had a really good game plan for stopping Warden on its first two possessions with three-and-outs," said Dayton-Waitsburg Head Coach Troy Larsen. "We then offensively drove the ball down to our 10-yard line and 20-yard line respectively before getting stopped by the Warden defense."

But by then the dominant Cougar football machine was warmed up and their hefty line dominated the young Dayton-Waitsburg front.

"We still had our shots with four touchdown passes dropped, and several wide-open passes dropped Thursday night," Larsen noted. "I believe their size and speed had an effect on our receivers as they heard footsteps and lost focus on the ball."

Coach Larsen praised some of his young players on the defense for their contributions. "Tyson Durham, Zach Durham, along with Rueben Yutzy, played their hearts out and they are really starting to figure out the game," Larsen said.

The Wolfpack won the toss and opened by kicking to Warden, DW held them with tenacious rush defense and Monte Pettichord tipped a third-down pass away from its intended receiver, Garrett Chamberlain to force the punt from their 27-yard line.

On the Wolfpack's first drive, speedy Hudson Reser slugged out a three-yard gain, Pettichord ran for three, then he turned a broken play into a 21-yard first down at the 44. He caught the Cougar defense napping with another 21-yard gain into Warden territory, first and ten on the 34 yard line.

Pettichord's pass to Cyson Morris was incomplete but a yellow hankie added 15 yards on the pass interference call, first and ten on the Cougar 19.

Reser carried for a few yards, got the call again but was wrapped up for no gain, but then Warden was called for a horse-collar tackle, making it second down and one on the Cougar nine-yard line. Here, Warden made a goal-line stand, stopping Pettichord keepers and taking over on downs at the 11-yard line.

But Dayton-Waitsburg's defense was tuned into the Cougars and held them three and out. Chamberlain gained a yard on first down. Tyson Durham tackled Cael Cox for a two-yard gain, and Elizalde's pass attempt to Caden Wood was incomplete, forcing the punt.

Pettichord fair caught the punt at the Cougar 49, but Warden's defense was all over it, sacking Pettichord on first down, reading the Pettichord-to-Reser screen pass nicely, holding Pettichord's successful throw to Levi Boudrieau to just two yards to force the punt on fourth and ten.

Warden's Cael Cox returned the punt to the 31 before Pettichord tackled him, then he added an eight-yard gain, helped by a DW horse-collar tackle call. On the Wolfpack 46, Chamberlain took the ball on a student-body left sweep all the way to the end zone for Warden's first touchdown.

Wolfpack drives the rest of the first quarter and into the second were three-and-outs. Dayton-Waitsburg had one sustained drive later in the second quarter, advancing to the Cougar 15 but missed Pettichord passes and effective blitzing stopped the drive and the half ended with Warden leading 25-0.

DW's first drive of the second half was cut short by a lost fumble, which led to another Cougar touchdown. While Wolfpack possessions were stifled with an occasional first down, Warden's offense scored on nearly every possession, invoking the running clock at 8:41 in the third quarter.

Warden 54, Dayton-Waitsburg 0 (9-30)

War 7 18 22 7-54

DW 0 0 0 0-0

Warden-Chamberlain 46 yd run. Kick good.

Warden-I. Hernandez 46 yd pass from Elizalde. Pass good.

Warden-Cox 3 yd run. Pass fail.

Warden-Caden Wood 83 yd run. Run fail.

-Chronicle photo

Wolfpack running back Hudson Reser (9) takes the hand off from DW quarterback Monte Pettichord (10) early in the game. Reser packed the mail 17 times for 46 yards.

Warden-Cox 20 yd run. Kick good.

Warden-Chamberlain 54 yd run. Pass good.

Warden-Caden Wood 35-yd interception return. Kick good.

Warden-Chamberlain 42 yd run. Kick good.

Rushing:

Reser: 17-46, Pettichord: 10-38

Passing:

Pettichord: 6-24-79 yds, 1 int.

Receiving:

Morris: 2-46, Berg: 2-20, Mohney: 2-13, Boudrieau: 1-3