TOWANDA – Just five years ago, Warrior Run won its first ever District 4 playoff game. And after that historic win at the end of the 2019 season, the Defender program proceeded to lose 22 consecutive games.
Just over two short years ago, the Defenders broke that losing streak in the fifth game of the 2022 season. And now, not only has Warrior Run done a complete 180 and turned the program around, but it is making history once again.
Behind the athletic exploits of Samuel Hall and Eli Butler, who combined for all six of Warrior Run’s touchdowns, the sixth-seeded Defenders topped second-seeded Towanda 43-20 in a District 4 Class AA semifinal.
The win advances Warrior Run to the program’s first ever District 4 championship game. The Defenders will make another trip up to the Northern Tier next week to face top-seeded Troy, which itself made some history on Friday as the Trojans knocked off seven-time defending AA state champion Southern Columbia, breaking one of the most impressive streaks the state has ever seen in high school football.
“There were two years in a row we went without winning a game and this year’s seniors didn’t win a game when they were freshman, so they’ve been on the other side of it and then to go out like this and get to a district championship game, I couldn’t be prouder of these kids that got the program to where it is now,” said Warrior Run coach Derrick Zechman. “There were a lot of tough times but we made progress every year and to get to this, it’s amazing.
“It’s crazy to even think about, but I’m not surprised because I knew we had the team and roster to do this at the beginning of the year. But there sure have been some detours on the way. I didn’t think we’d get there how we did with how the season ended, losing three out of our last four games. But their resilience, being beat down, losing some heartbreakers and they kept fighting and working. Last week, we started getting healthy at the right time and tonight we had everyone full go and we haven’t had that since Week 4.”
It was a full go and then some for Hall and Butler, whose athleticism and play-making ability that made the difference for the Defenders on Friday.
Hall scored three first half touchdowns, including one in which he barely eluded hitting the ground thanks to some acrobatic moves, and another in which he hauled in a one-handed catch. Butler also added three touchdowns, with his two second half scores largely icing the game.
“The offense came out firing on all cylinders, Sam Hall making plays, the offensive line taking over, Eli Butler and Colby LeBarron running, and the defense did a really solid job getting turnovers and stops in the red zone. We got momentum early and didn’t let it go,” said Zechman.
In addition to Hall’s and Butler’s offensive exploits, Warrior Run’s defense also created three Towanda turnovers, and stopped the Black Knights three times in the red zone without points – twice as the results of turnovers and once on downs. The Black Knights were plagued by miscues all night, as they committed seven fumbles, though they only lost one.
“When you get to this point in the season, teams are too good to give them points like we did and we just came out and didn’t play our game,” said Towanda coach Jamie Wecker. “They’re a really strong and physical team and they played a nice game and you just can’t make those mistakes against a team like that.
“None of these kids wanted to play the way we played tonight but that’s life and when we take a step back and look at the whole season – what a great experience we had. I think we did a lot better than a lot of people thought we would and I’m really proud of them.”
The Defenders struck early after receiving the opening kickoff as James Keifer hit Hall on a short pass that Hall turned into a 63-yard touchdown pass as he eluded a handful of Towanda defenders and broke a few tackles, barely avoiding hitting the ground before getting free and dashing down the right sideline for the touchdown.
Towanda then marched down the field, advancing from their own 35 all the way to the Defender 19-yard line before the drive stalled on downs. Later in the first quarter, Towanda went three-and-out at their own 25, and then the snap for a punt went over the punter’s head and into the end zone, where he fell on it for a safety.
Butler then returned the subsequent free kick 60 yards all the way down to the Towanda 11, and one play later burst up the middle for an 11-yard touchdown run to make it 15-0.
The Black Knights appeared to be on their way to answering, but on the 13th play of their next drive, Keifer stepped in front of his receiver and picked off Riley Vanderpool’s pass in the end zone for a touchback.
Keifer then engineered an 80-yard drive in just five plays, with Hall accounting for the majority of that on a 54-yard touchdown run on an end-around to extend the Defender lead to 22-0.
Towanda was finally able to finish a drive, as Vanderpool capped a 10-play drive with a two-yard touchdown run with 2:12 left in the half to make it 22-7.
But the Defenders answered almost immediately, as they took advantage of a pair of penalties on the Black Knights and needed just three plays to score another touchdown, this one on a one-handed touchdown catch in the end zone by Hall with a Towanda defender draped all over him and his other arm.
They nearly had another touchdown before the end of the half as Butler picked off Vanderpool and ran it back 58 yards for a touchdown, but it was called back due to a block in the back penalty on the return, and Warrior Run settled for a 29-7 lead at the half.
That lead was built despite the Defenders running just 14 official offensive plays in the first half, compared to 43 for Towanda. But Warrior Run made things difficult for Vanderpool, the Black Knights’ dual threat quarterback whose athleticism had largely carried the Towanda offense all season. Vanderpool finished with 150 rushing yards, but had only 45 in the first half. He would finish with 300 all-purpose yards in his final high school game, but the two interceptions hurt the Black Knights.
Vanderpool moved to running game in the second half with freshman Reese Sluyter coming in at quarterback. Vanderpool would get a 21-yard touchdown run in the waning seconds of the third quarter, and Sluyter would hit Vanderpool in the end zone for a 36-yard touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter for Vanderpool’s third score of the night, but by that time, Warrior Run had chewed up much of the clock in the second half.
“It’s a package we’ve had but their front four were very strong and we just couldn’t get a lot of holes for him so we wanted to throw the ball, which we weren’t doing as well as we’ve done in the past so we tried something different and played him so they couldn’t key in on him as much and got our young freshman quarterback some good experience,” said Wecker.
Warrior Run did not throw the ball at all in the second half, as the Defenders ran the ball on all 20 of its plays in the second half, with 14 of those coming from Butler, who ran for 99 of his 136 yards in the second half. He finished with 230 all-purpose yards on the night and scored both of Warrior Run’s second half touchdowns.
Butler burst loose for a 36-yard touchdown run at the 4:38 mark of the second half to extend Warrior Run’s lead to 36-7, and he put the cap on the evening with a one-yard touchdown run with 7:42 remaining.
Warrior Run 43, Towanda 20
Warrior Run (8-4) 15 14 7 7 – 43
Towanda (9-3) 0 7 7 6 – 20
First quarter
10:32 – (WR) Samuel Hall 63-yard pass from James Keifer (Hunter kick), 2-61, 1:28
4:37 – (WR) Team Safety
4:17 – (WR) Eli Butler 11-yard run (kick blocked), 1-11, :20
Second quarter
7:26 – (WR) Samuel Hall 54-yard run (Hunter kick), 5-80, 2:38
2:12 – (T) Riley Vanderpool 2-yard run (Wheaton kick), 10-54, 5:14
1:16 – (WR) Samuel Hall 29-yard pass from James Keifer (Hunter kick), 3-53, :56
Third quarter
4:38 – (WR) Eli Butler 36-yard run (Hunter kick), 5-87, 2:25
:31 – (T) Riley Vanderpool 21-yard run (Wheaton kick), 9-65, 4:07
Fourth quarter
7:42 – (WR) Eli Butler 1-yard run (Hunter kick), 8-50, 4:49
4:40 – (T) Riley Vanderpool 36-yard pass from Reese Sluyter (run failed), 6-73, 3:02
Statistics
WR T
First downs 14 24
Rushes-net yards 29-228 43-150
Passing yardage 108 172
Passing 4-5-2-0 12-23-1-2
Fumbles-lost 0-0 7-1
Penalties-yards 8-75 8-70
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Warrior Run: Eli Butler (20-136-3), Colby LeBarron (7-39), Samuel Hall (1-54-1), Team (1-(-1)); Towanda: Riley Vanderpool (28-150-2), Caden Delamater (5-24), Rylee Sluyter (3-12), Gage Evans (3-0), Reese Sluyter (2-2), Team (2-(-38))
PASSING: Warrior Run: James Keifer (4-5-108-2-0); Towanda: Riley Vanderpool (9-19-114-0-2), Reese Sluyter (3-4-58-1-0)
RECEIVING: Warrior Run: Samuel Hall (3-99-2), Eli Butler (1-9); Towanda: Tahshon Garner (4-51), Rylee Sluyter (3-48), Wil Shrawder (3-32), Riley Vanderpool (1-36-1), Reese Sluyter (1-5)
