Waubonsie makes Lake Park pay for miscues

Updated: September 17, 2011 12:54AM

Christmas may be three months away, but Lake Park was definitely in a giving mood in its Upstate Eight Conference contest Friday at Waubonsie Valley.

The Lancers (1-3, 0-2 UEC Valley) turned the ball over six times in a 54-7 loss on the Warriors’ homecoming night.

Dylan Warden made the most of first career varsity start as he ran the ball seven times for 94 yards and four touchdowns. He also threw for another touchdown and was a perfect 3-for-3 on his limiting passing plays. Warden took over last week in the second half for injured starter Mitch Stefani, who broke his collarbone early in the third quarter in the Warriors’ loss to Bartlett.

“I was very nervous last week, but this week I really settled down and just played,” Warden said. “We did a great job of moving the football and thanks to our defense we got the ball in great field position to score.”

Unlike last week at Bartlett, the Warriors (3-1, 1-1 UEC Valley) cashed in on their opponent’s mistakes as they scored 41 points off the six Lancer turnovers. Lake Park especially had trouble in the first quarter when it lost the ball four times giving Waubonsie great field position.

Lake Park fumbled on its first possession and Waubonsie took over at the Lancers’ 41-yard line. Four plays later the Warriors grabbed the lead as Warden ran 32 yards for a touchdown on a fourth-and-1 play.

On the ensuing kickoff, the returner for the Lancers lost the ball stretching for extra yards and Waubonsie recovered. The Warriors would punch it in on a 5-yard Austin Guido run and the rout was on.

“All we talked about was being aggressive and attacking on defense,” Warriors coach Paul Murphy said. “When you are playing at a higher speed than your opponent, you are going to force turnovers and make them make mistakes. Offensively, we ran between the tackles well and you saw how good of a weapon Dylan (Warden) is. He’s another guy that defenses are going to have to account for in our triple option.”

Hugh Griffin benefited from the next Lake Park turnover as he recovered a fumble from the Lancer quarterback and ran 17 yards for a score. Later on, Griffin added an interception.

Warden hooked up with Dee Gray for a 3-yard TD pass with 45 seconds remaining in the opening quarter to put the game out of reach. Guido rushed the ball 14 times for 211 yards and two touchdowns.

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