Second half dooms Dragons in loss to Fort LeBoeuf
WATERFORD, Pa. – Fort LeBoeuf asserted its size advantage in the second half to turn a 1-point game into a blowout in a 37-8 win over visiting Warren Friday.
The Bison (1-1, 1-0 Region 7) took a 9-8 lead into the locker room at halftime, but wore down the Dragons (1-1, 0-1) defense in the second half. Ben Turi ran for over 100 yards and had three touchdowns in a win that christened the newly renovated Carm Bonito Field.
“We played well in the first half,” Warren coach Mark Morelli said. “(But) we quit. It’s embarrassing and as the head coach of the Warren football team, I hate to say it but we quit. We took a knockout punch and stayed down.”
Warren played well defensively for the most part, but the Bison were able to rip off seven plays of 20 or more yards and took advantage of great field position through most of the game. Six of LeBoeuf’s 10 offensive drives began in Warren territory.
The LeBoeuf defense swarmed the Dragons all night. After getting multiple explosive plays at Fairview last week, Warren had just two go for more than 20 yards against the Bison.
“Our offensive line didn’t play well tonight and we got manhandled,” Morelli said.
Turi got the scoring started in the first quarter with a 31-yard touchdown run.
In one of the rare times LeBoeuf kicked to him, Ryan Arnold took the ensuing kickoff 48 yards, and nearly broke past the last man to beat, to set Warren up in LeBoeuf territory.
On a 3rd-and-8, Micah Passmore found Alex Anderson at the one for a 32-yard pass play. Passmore snuck it in on the next play and James Swanson ran in the conversion to give the Dragons an 8-6 advantage.
Neither team was able to get much going for the rest of the half until the Bison put together an 8-play drive that chewed up more than three minutes and was capped by an Adam Scarpino 35-yard field goal with 32 seconds to play. The kick gave LeBoeuf a 9-8 lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
The Bison took the opening drive of the second half down the field thanks to a Jack Rimpa 39-yard run. Two plays later, Rimpa ran it in from four yards out and the lead was 16-8.
“That field goal and the first drive of the second half was it for us,” Morelli said.
From that point, it was all Bison.
The Dragons couldn’t take advantage of a roughing the kicker penalty and, on fourth down, the snap nearly sailed over Passmore’s head. He was able to leap to catch the ball, but couldn’t keep his footing and went down at the 17, giving LeBoeuf prime field position.
Two plays and three penalties later, Turi picked up his second TD of the night with a 20 yard run. He got his third early in the fourth quarter from five yards out to push the lead to 30-8.
Warren started to gain some momentum offensively on the next drive, highlighted by a 23-yard pass from Passmore to Arnold. A bad snap led to a fumble that LeBoeuf recovered deep in its own territory.
Tristin Harris capped the ensuing drive with a 4-yard score to end the scoring for the night.
Turi finished with 115 yards and three touchdowns, while Rimpa had 79 rushing yards and a score and Harris had 48 yards and a touchdown. As a team, the Bison ran for 248 yards.
Warren was unable to get anything going on the ground. Swanson had a team-high four rushing yards and, as a team, the Dragons were held to negative-34 yards rushing. Passmore was 10-23 passing for 94 yards.
Not only did the Dragons take the loss on the field, but they will be without at least one offensive lineman next week. Tony Batiste picked up a pair of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and was ejected. As a result, he will have to miss next week’s game.
Warren hosts DuBois next Friday in its home-opener.
“This was not pretty,” Morelli said. “But we’ve got to respond and get back up. This is a character test and we’re going to find out what we’re made of. We’re at a crossroads next week.”
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Score by quarters
Warren 8 0 0 0 – 8
Fort LeBoeuf 6 3 14 14 – 37
Scoring summary
First Quarter
F-Ben Turi 31 run (Adam Scarpino kick no good), 7:34
W-Micah Passmore 1 run (James Swanson run), 5:26
Second Quarter
F-Scarpino 35 field goal, 0:32
Third Quarter
F-Jack Rimpa 4 run (Scarpino kick), 9:00
F-Turi 20 run (Scarpino kick), 3:40
Fourth Quarter
F-Turi 5 run (Scarpino kick), 11:14
F-Tristin Harris 4 run (Scarpino kick), 4:33
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Team stats
W F
1st downs 8 12
Total plays 46 46
Rushes-yards 23-(-34) 41-248
Comp-att-int 10-23-0 2-5-0
Pass yards 94 34
Fumbles-lost 4-2 1-0
Penalties-yards 14-105 14-130
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Individual stats
Rushing: Warren-Swanson 4-4-2pt, Jamo Douvlos 1-1, Ethan Benedict 1-0, Landon Douvlos 1-(-1), Carter Pascuzzi 1-(-1), Ethan Senz 1-(-16), Passmore 14-(-21)-1. Fort LeBoeuf-Turi 12-115-3, Rimpa 10-79-1, Harris 8-48-1, Dylan Hewitt 3-4, Dominic Gentile 2-4, Adam Lichtinger 1-3, Ryan Daum 1-(-1), Max Endres 4-(-4).
Passing: Warren-Passmore 10-23 94 yards. Fort LeBoeuf-Endres 2-5 34 yards.
Receiving: Warren-Ryan Arnold 5-44, Alex Anderson 2-38, Ethan Wilson 1-7, Swanson 2-5. Fort LeBoeuf-Scarpino 2-34






