The Southwestern Warriors were looking to get back on track following consecutive district losses the past two weeks when South Laurel came calling to the Reservation Friday.
And while the offense had one of its better performances, the defense simply had no answer for Cardinals sophomore quarterback Maddox Warren in what turned out to be a second-half shootout between the two teams.
Warren, the son of Cardinals great Neil Warren; arguably the best player to ever come out of Laurel County, put on a show reminiscent of his famous father.
Warren threw five touchdown passes in the game and was unstoppable in the second half as South held on for a 38-28 win over the Warriors.
The victory was the first for South Laurel at the Reservation since the 1998 season.
It was the third consecutive loss for the Warriors who fell to 2-6 on the season.
The first quarter looked like the game might not be the high scoring affair it turned out to be as both teams defenses came out of the gate strong.
South Laurel got on the board first on a field goal with just more than four minutes remaining in the first quarter to go up 3-0.
Tayden Richardson and the Warriors offense had an answer, driving the length of the field to take a 6-3 lead when Richardson hit Aiden Whitson for a 24-yard touchdown with 46 seconds remaining in the quarter.
The lead was short lived though as Warren needed less than two minutes to get the Cardinals into the end zone with his first touchdown pass of the night, a nine-yard strike to Caleb Roark to give South a 10-6 lead.
South extended its lead to 17-6 with four minutes left in the half on a six-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Kenyon Ellis.
As he did all night, Richardson once again led the Warriors down the field to pay dirt.
Richardson hit Winston Sanderson streaking down the middle of the field for a 40-yard gain to get the Warriors deep into Cardinals’ territory.
Southwestern struck again on a 13-yard touchdown rush by Richardson, and following a Cameron Bonds’ two-point conversion the Warriors pulled within 17-14 at the half.
Both teams’ offenses came out red hot in the second half.
Warren hit Ellis for a six-yard touchdown on the opening drive of the half to put South up 24-14.
Southwestern answered the South Laurel touchdown with one of its own on the following possession with most of the damage coming on the ground, before a 12-yard toss to Sanderson to make the score 24-21.
Following a fourth down penalty on the Warriors, Warren hit Roark in the end zone for the second time for a seven-yard touchdown to once again extend the lead to 31-21 at the end of the third quarter.
Southwestern took advantage of a short field on the ensuing kickoff to once again cut into the deficit. A five-yard run by Jaxon Staley brought the Warriors within three at 31-28 with eight minutes remaining.
Just as quickly Warren and the Cardinals had an answer, going 60 yards on 10 plays to extend the lead out to 38-28 on Warren’s fifth touchdown of the game with five minutes remaining.
Unfortunately for the Warriors, the South defense finally came up with its first stop of the second half to shut the door on the Southwestern comeback.
Richardson finished the night going 10-16 passing for 146 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also had 39 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
Staley led the rushing attack with 12 caries for 86 yards and a touchdown while Bonds added 10 carries for 45 yards.
Haynes led all receivers with four catches for 55 yards, Sanderson had two catches for 52 yards and a touchdown, and Whitson had two catches for 32 yards and a touchdown.
The Warriors return to the Reservation again this Friday when they host cross-town rival Pulaski County in the final district game of the season.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.