The Dragons scored on five plays of 30 or more yards on their way to a 50-28 Region 7 win over DuBois in their home opener at War Memorial Field Friday. Ryan Arnold scored a rushing, receiving and interception return touchdown and Alex Anderson hauled in a pair of long TD receptions in the win.

“The kids answered the bell,” Warren coach Mark Morelli said. “We had a good week of preparation and executed the game plan.”

Warren (2-1 overall, 1-1 Region 7) opened the game with a 14-play scoring drive capped by a 6-yard run from quarterback Micah Passmore.

DuBois (0-3, 0-2) looked poised to answer on the ensuing possession as the Beavers drove deep into Warren territory. On a third-and-seven from the Warren 14, DuBois quarterback Alex Kovalyak tried to float a pass to the outside. Passmore was there to snag the interception and stop the drive.

Warren’s Micah Passmore (3) finds the open field. Passmore was a force in Friday’s win over DuBois, passing for three touchdowns and rushing for two more.

“That was huge,” Morelli said. “It kept the momentum going.”

Three plays later Passmore found Anderson streaking down the middle. Anderson caught the pass in stride and sprinted 94 yards to paydirt. Arnold was able to turn a bad snap exchange on the PAT into a 2-point conversion with a Saquon Barkley-esque leap over the goalline to put the Dragons up 15-0 after one.

“They’re athletic and we knew they would be tough to cover,” DuBois coach Justin Marshall said.

Kovalyak cut in to the deficit early in the second when he found Nick Dilullo for a 13 yard scoring strike. Colby Estrada’s PAT attempt sailed wide right and Warren held a 15-6 lead.

On the fourth play of the next possession, Arnold took a pitch, turned the corner and raced 34 yards into the endzone to extend the lead to 22-6.

Warren’s Blake Arnold sacks DuBois quarterback Alex Kovalyak

Late in the half, Passmore found Arnold behind the defense for a 65-yard touchdown pass and a 29-6 advantage.

Tyler Christner fielded a bouncing ball on the ensuing kickoff, squeezed through the coverage and ran 72 yards to cut the lead to 29-12 at the half.

The second half couldn’t have started any better for the Dragons, or any worse for the Beavers.

On the first play, Kovalyak’s pass was deflected. Arnold was able to grab the ball just before it hit the ground and take it 40 yards down the sideline to extend the lead to 36-12.

On the first play of the next possession, Kovalyak was unable to handle the snap and the Dragons recovered the ball at the Beavers 9.

Warren's Alex Ziegler brings down DuBois quarterback Alex Kovalyak.

Four plays later, Passmore ran it in from three yards out to push the advantage to 43-12.

“We stressed that there was a second half to play,” Morelli said. “We continue to stress that we have to play for four quarters.”

“That definitely hurt,” Marshall said. “We had a good talk at halftime. We just had a bad read and a missed throw. It was deflating.”

Kovalyak escaped disaster on the first play of the next possession by recovering a fumbled snap. He then connected on three long pass plays to three different receivers, the last one a 20 yard scoring play to Zach Shilala.

The Beavers forced a fumble on the next Dragons possession and had the ball in Warren territory. On third down, Alex Zeigler came streaking off the edge and got to Kovalyak. In the process, Zeigler was able to rip the ball out of Kovalyak’s hands and give Warren the ball at midfield.

The Flannel Panel gets hyped before the Dragons take on DuBois last Friday. The Dragons take on North East on the road tonight at 7 p.m.

“I was happy with the pressure we put on them,” Morelli said. “We gave them some different looks.”

Facing a fourth-and-six on the first play of the fourth quarter, Passmore again connected with Anderson. This time from 34 yards out to give Warren a 50-20 lead.

Aidan Castro ended the scoring with a 1-yard plunge with just under five minutes to go in the game.

Though the Dragons didn’t have any single runner with more than 40 yards, they ran for 141 as a team.

“We got our running game going and that set up those long passes,” Morelli said. “We were able to keep them off balance.”

Arnold and Jamo Douvlos each finished with 39 yards. Ethan Benedict, starting in place of the injured James Swanson, led the Dragons with 12 carries.

“The coaches said all week we had to be ready to handle adversity,” Benedict said. “Having guys step up gave us a big boost.”

Passmore finished with 244 yards on 9-15 passing with three scores and an interception. Anderson had 3 receptions for 153 yards and two TDs, while Arnold finished with five receptions for 83 yards and a score.

Kovalyak threw for 254 yards on 15-19 passing with a touchdown and two interceptions. Shilala led the way with six grabs for 81 yards.

The Dragons held highly touted tight end Chase Husted to just one catch for 22 yards.

“We took (him) out of the game,” Morelli said. “I was pleased with the effort. This was a character test, and we passed.”

DuBois will try to pick up its first win next week against Franklin and quaterback Ian Haynes.

Warren goes back on the road for a Saturday night contest at North East

– – - 

Score by quarters

DuBois 0 12 8 8–28

Warren 15 14 14 7–50

First Quarter

W–Micah Passmore 6 run (Sawyer Mohney kick), 5:19

W-Alex Anderson 94 pass from Passmore (Ryan Arnold run), 1:44

Second Quarter

D–Nick Dilullo 13 pass from Alex Kovalyak (Colby Estrrada kick missed), 10:03

W-Arnold 34 run (Mohney kick), 8:03

W-Arnold 65 pass from Passmore (Mohney kick), 1:15

D-Tyler Christner 72 kickoff return (run failed), 1:04

Third Quarter

W-Arnold 40 interception return (Mohney kick), 11:47

W-Passmore 3 run (Mohney kick), 10:28

D-Zach Shilala 20 pass from Kovalyak (Michael Eisman run), 7:31

Fourth Quarter

W–Anderson 34 pass from Passmore (Mohney kick), 11:53

D-Aidan Castro 1 run (Castro run), 4:54

——

D W

First downs 14 8

Total Yards 315 385

Rushes-yards 24-61 37-141

Passing 254 244

Comp-Att-Int 16-20-2 9-15-1

Fumbles-Lost 5-3 1-1

Penalties-Yards 9-77 7-72

——

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–DuBois, Eisman 8-20, Zach Henery 2-27, Castro 2-11, Estrada 1-5, Dilullo 1-3, Cam-ron Hays 1-0, Kovalyak 10-(-5). Warren, Jamo Douvlos 10-39, Arnold 4-39-1, Passmore 11-37-2, Ethan Benedict 12-26.

PASSING–DuBois, Kovalyak 15-19 220-1-2, Hays 1-1-34. Warren, Passmore 9-15-244-3-1.

RECEIVING–DuBois, Shilala 6-81, Dilullo 3-45-1, Eisman 3-38, Ruben Estrada 1-35, Ryan Kovalyak 1-34, Chase Husted 1-22, Dale Kot 1-(-1). Warren, Anderson 3-153-2, Arnold 5-83-1, Ethan Wilson 1-8.

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