High School Football: Warriors wake up in second half, rout Eagles

Boonsboro’s Zach Poffenberger had just been stripped of the football, leading to a Hedgesville touchdown and a 13-12 Eagles lead with 6:02 to play in the third quarter.

Upset with the turnover, Poffenberger turned around and shocked Hedgesville with a 95-yard kickoff return that gave Boonsboro the lead and kick-started the Warriors on the way to a 48-13 victory on Friday night.


“That was definitely the play of the game, to answer them,” said Boonsboro coach Clayton Anders. “Zach turned the tide with that return.”

For the entire first half and the beginning of the third quarter, Hedgesville (2-6) did not play like a team with a losing record. The Eagles puzzled Boonsboro defensively and threw a multitude of wildcat formations at the Warriors when on offense.

In the end, Boonsboro (6-1) took advantage of its opportunities.

After Hedgesville’s Lane Riner threw an 8-yard scoring pass to Troy Markley for the 13-12 lead, Poffensberger’s return was a beauty down the right sideline that gave Boonsboro a 20-13 lead.

“I got a great block from J.J. (Jardeleza),” said Poffenberger. “I almost got tripped by No. 5 (Markley) but kept on going.”

The Warriors exploded after that.

After stopping Hedgesville, it took one play for Ryan Ruiz to increase the Warriors’ lead. He took a pitchout from Chad Cowden and threw a halfback pass to Reiker Bowles for a 49-yard score and a 27-13 lead with 31 seconds to play in the third quarter.

Ruiz, playing in the secondary with a cast on his left forearm, then intercepted a pass by Riner and returned it 47 yards for a score on the last play of the third quarter.

The Warriors added two scores in the final period. The first was a 40-yard pass from Cowden to Bowles, who made a nice catch deep in the corner of the end zone with 8:45 to play.

Poffenberger intercepted a pass that set up a 47-yard drive, all on the ground, that ended with a 5-yard run by Jardeleza with 1:58 to go.

Until that 47-yard drive, Hedgesville had held Boonsboro to only 61 yards rushing.

“We found a way to dig out of a hole,” said Anders. “Give Hedgesville credit, they defended us well in the first half. We got some short fields and were able to answer them.”

The Warriors fell behind quicky when Rahsaan Stanton intercepted a Cowden pass and returned it 65 yards for a score and a 7-0 Hedgesville lead.

Boonsboro punted after a drive stalled, but the Warriors got the ball on the Hedgesville 10 when the punt hit off a Hedgesville player.

Quickly the Warriors scored on a 5-yard run by Ethan Foster.

In the second quarter, Ryan Walsh intercepted a pass that gave Boonsboro possession at the Hedgesville 9, and Jardeleza scored two plays later from the 5 for a 12-7 lead that stood at the half.

Boonsboro finished with 108 yards on the ground. Jardeleza had 41 yards and Poffenberger added 32. The Warriors threw for 126 yards.