Warriors win wild one over St. Joseph's, 48-34

THE WOODLANDS, Texas- The Woodlands Christian Academy Warriors took a giant step toward winning the TAPPS 3A Division 4 football championship with a thrilling 48-34 homecoming victory over Bryan St. Joseph on Friday night.

The Warriors, who are ranked among the top five teams in TAPPS 3A, jumped out to a 20-0 lead, only to watch the Eagles, who also are ranked among the top five in the state, rally to grab a 34-33 advantage with 9:04 left in the contest.

Facing a fourth-and-five from its own 46 with 3:31 left in the game, TWCA halfback Luke Hudson took a pitch from quarterback Jack Bento and found Dirk Sanford with a 41-yard pass to give the Warriors a first down at the Eagles’ 13.

On the next play, Hudson scampered up the middle untouched for a 13-yard score to give the Warriors a 39-34 lead with 2:58 left in the game. TWCA lined up like it was going to kick the extra-point, but kicker Sebastian Martinez took a lateral and ran the ball in for two points to give the Warriors a 41-34 lead.

St. Joe’s took over on its own 30 after the Warriors’ kickoff went out of bounds. But on third-and-15, Kyle Cox intercepted Luke McClure’s pass over the middle and returned it to the 33 with 2:09 to play.

Hudson then dragged four tacklers for 28 yards and a first down at the St. Joe’s 5, and Bento put the finishing touches on the victory with a 5-yard bootleg run for a touchdown.

Bento hit Sanford with touchdown passes of 3, 25 and 3 yards in the first 13 minutes of the contest to give the Warriors what looked like an insurmountable 20-0 lead with 11:01 left in the first half. Bento finished the game hitting 10-of-24 passes for 137 yards and three scores, while Sanford caught four passes for 71 yards and three scores.

McClure, who completed 29-of-43 passes for 386 yards and five touchdowns, hit De’Unten Damon with a 73-yard touchdown pass and Ruben Fernandez with a 26-yard scoring toss to cut the lead to 26-14 at halftime.

The TD toss to Fernandez was a 26-yard scoring strike with only six seconds left until intermission.

Hudson, who rushed for 173 yards and two touchdowns, scored on a 13-yard run with 8:45 left in the third period to give the Warriors a 33-14 lead.

But St. Joe’s, which fell to 4-1 on the season, scored 20 straight points on the strength of McClure’s powerful right arm.

McClure hit Michael Krause with touchdown passes of 20 and 14 yards, and Hunter Batten with a 55-yard scoring toss to set the stage for a wild final nine minutes of action.

TWCA finished the game with 429 total yards, but was hurt by three costly fumbles.

St. Joe’s had 415 total yards and two interceptions.

Batten caught eight passes for 124 yards. He also rushed for 24 yards in the loss.