In the end, Girard pulled away from Warren in a battle of 0-5 teams for a 21-7 victory in the Dragons’ homecoming game at War Memorial Field.

The young Dragons came out inspired and scored first just three-and-half-minutes into the game. Charlie Blum took a handoff and raced around the right end for a 28-yard touchdown. He also kicked the extra point for a 7-0 lead.

It didn’t take long for Girard to answer and the Yellowjackets drove 70 yards down to the 1-yard line before quarterback Ryan St. Julien was pushed in for the score. Girard missed the extra-point kick, and Warren would take the 7-6 lead into halftime.

Four Dragons — Blum, Ayden Corbett, Ayden Eger, and quarterback Brady Shene — were running the ball well in the first half to the tune of 134 yards, and grinding clock with 28 rushing attempts to two passes.

senior Noel Alexander, with parents James and Heather, was named Warren Area High School homecoming queen at halftime. Times Observer Photo by Mark Evans

Corbett, a freshman, had 41 yards on 10 attempts in the half, including two 12-yard runs.

Girard adjusted in the second half, limiting the Dragons to 29 yards and had five tackles for loss.

The tide turned dramatically late in the third quarter when a roughing-the-kicker penalty on Warren turned Girard’s missed 28-yard field goal attempt into an automatic first down. St. Julien took advantage with a 6-yard pass to James Kibbe for the Yellowjackets’ first lead. St. Julien then hit Mason Kalicky for the 2-point conversion and a 14-7 lead.

It became Girard running downhill as the game wore on; senior back Riley Horn only had three first-half carries, but finished with 12 rushes for 123 yards. St. Julien had his hand in another Girard touchdown at 9:27 of the fourth with his own 24-yard run.

The Yellowjackets had seven rushes of more than 10 yards in the second half.

“The kids played hard,” said Warren coach Cody Bupp, whose Dragons are 0-6. “We talked about adjustments at halftime and we didn’t execute those adjustments. You have to finish. No one is going to teach you how to do it, you’ve got to figure it out for yourself. We played some complimentary football, we just didn’t play it for four quarters.”

Warren is back on the road on Friday at General McLane, then hosts Oil City eight days later for a Saturday night game.

“We go into a meat-grinder the next couple of weeks, so we watch our film and start going at it again,” added Bupp.