Long, late drive nets Warwick upset of Cedar Crest

(This story was produced by LNP/Lancasteronline, and published in partnership with MikeDragoSports.com.)

By Bruce Morgan — LNP/Lancasteronline

Warwick senior quarterback Jack Reed described his team’s go-ahead, fourth-quarter drive on Friday night as “gutsy.”

It was a fitting characterization as the Warriors took more than seven minutes off the clock on their 17-play, 98-yard march.

When Reed lofted a 7-yard TD pass to Brendon Snyder in the right corner of the end zone with 1:49 to go on the clock, Warwick took the lead for good and secured its first win of the season, beating previously unbeaten Cedar Crest 26-20 in a non-league game at Earl Boltz Stadium in Cornwall.

“Everyone did their job and everyone believed in each other,” said Reed, who finished 23-of-31 for 259 yards with three TDs, all to Snyder. “There were a couple of fourth downs where we wanted it more. It’s a beautiful thing when it all gets put together.”

Even after the Warriors (1-2) took the lead still wasn’t in the books. But junior safety Trevor Evans picked off Crest quarterback Jay Huber (21-30-1, 231 yards) near midfield, then senior running back Colin Winters (14 carries, 93 yards) iced it with a never-say-die 9-yard run to move the chains one final time.

“The Winters run at the end for the first down is amazing,” Warrior coach Bob Locker said, “but the plays that Jack made down the stretch, the catches we made. . . I just thought our kids did a fantastic job tonight of stepping up and making plays.”

Cedar Crest (2-1), averaging nearly 300 yards of offense while starting the season 2-0, took its only lead of the night at 6-0 on a 4-yard TD run by Fernando Marquez on the Falcons’ first possession. They were in Warwick’s red zone two other times in the first half, only to be stopped on downs by the Warriors’ defense, including a goal line stand late in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, the red-and-black answered with Andrew McClune’s 9-yard TD run and Reed-to-Snyder scoring connections of 29 and 12 yards, the second of those with just :04 left in the half to put them in front 20-13 going to the intermission.

The Falcons tied it one more time on Huber’s 16-yard TD pass to Gabe Lewis with 4:21 to go in the third, but Warwick had the final answer.