Warren quarterback Jacob Sealey (13) hands off to Eric Carr during Friday's game against Fort Frye. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

VINCENT — Warren used a big play to end the first half and an even bigger one to open the third quarter here Friday night as the host Warriors celebrated homecoming with a key 28-6 Twin State League victory versus Fort Frye.

The 6-3 Warriors of head coach Jimmy Peyton, who entered the fray ranked No. 22 in Division III, Region 11, never trailed and in the process snapped a five-game losing skid to the Cadets, which last lost to WHS in 2007 and still trails the all-time series 24-19-1.

“Owen Thompson is a pretty good football player,” quipped coach Peyton, who watched his senior linebacker finish with 18 tackles, which included a key tackle for loss on Cadet quarterback Grady Hesson late in the third on a fourth-and-inches snap from the WHS 12 with the visitors trailing 21-6. “Owen did a really good job and our kids bought in this week.

“We stumbled and turned it over five times last week (at Point Pleasant). For us in the past when we’d hit adversity like that we don’t always lean to the right with it. We’ve kind of gone the other way. This week was totally opposite of what we’ve done in the past. They reacted to the adversity, adjusted to that and overcame. Our defensive effort, we felt like we had a good game plan going in.”

Fort Frye, which slipped to 6-3 and came in ranked fourth in Division VI, Region 23, lost the total yards battle 301-192 and watched tailback Tyce Beardsley leave due to injury in the first half.

Warren's Landon Fairbanks, left, carries the ball as Fort Frye's Grady Hesson wraps him up during Friday's game. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“We did the things that will get you beat,” admitted Cadet boss Eric Huck, whose team concludes the regular season next Friday at Point Pleasant. “We didn’t stay on blocks real well. Gave up a couple big plays. The pass before the half and the kickoff return.

“You can’t give those kinds of plays up against a good team. We made too many mistakes and it cost us. They were getting off blocks and stunting linebackers and we weren’t talking up front and picking it up like we needed to. It’s just one game. We need to move on and see what we can do to get better and fix things.”

The Cadets picked up a first down on their opening series, but had to punt.

Warren took the lead for good when the hosts went on a methodical 17-play, 75-yard scoring drive that consumed 9:32 of the clock.

The Warriors converted a quartet of third downs and once on fourth before Eric Carr finally hit paydirt on a 6-yard sweep for a 7-0 cushion at 10:36 of the second following Devyan Wilson’s extra point.

Fort Frye's Luke Phillis (7) returns a kick during Friday's game at Warren. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Fort Frye was called for being offside on the Warriors’ initial third down attempt. Jacob Sealey, who hit 5 of 6 for 132 yards, found Caleb Tullius for a 9-yard completion to convert a third down.

Facing a third-and-14 at their own 46, Tanner Pepper made an 11-yard grab, which was followed by a 6-yard Sealey scamper for another first down.

Landon Fairbanks, who finished with 79 rushing yards on 18 attempts with Carr going for 82 stripes on a dozen totes, converted on a third-and-3 and Carr did the same when it was third-and-2 at the Cadet 19.

Freshman Luke Phillis gave the Cadets a boost of momentum when he returned the ensuing kickoff 66 yards to the Warren 19, but the visitors turned it over on downs.

Warren opted to roll the dice and go for it midway through the second on fourth-and-inches at their own 41, but Fairbanks was held to no gain.

Fort Frye quarterback Grady Hesson (2) is stopped short of the goal line during Friday's game at Warren. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

The Cadets needed just seven plays to score as Hesson capped it with a 1-yard sneak. However, Warrior Aden Strahler blocked Tytan Waller’s extra point.

Instead of taking the ball at the 35 after Fort Frye kicked it out of bounds, the Warriors opted to have the Cadets kick it again. That ended up costing the hosts 11 yards as they ended up taking over at the 24.

That didn’t prove to be a problem, though, as the hosts called “A-seam” and it resulted in a 76-yard catch-and-run touchdown strike from Sealey to Fairbanks, which set what would be the halftime score with 2:19 remaining.

“We worked on that all week,” admitted coach Peyton. “We threw it pregame and it was just one of those things. That’s just the kind of night we had. It worked. Testament to Jake for throwing a dime and Fairbanks catching the ball and scoring.

“That was our halftime emphasis, to continue to tackle well and we wanted to come out and score a touchdown on that first drive.”

Warren's Aden Strahler, right, blocks an extra point attempt by Fort Frye kicker Tytan Waller during Friday's game. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Carr took the second half kickoff and started toward the seam on the Warriors’ side of the field before seeing a hole, cutting it to the middle and then outracing everyone to paydirt for an 89-yard touchdown.

“I was just seeing green and I started running,” said Carr, who replied when asked what this win means “a lot. We’re just trying to change the culture out here. Beating Fort Frye is one of them because we haven’t beaten them in years.

“It just means a lot to all of us. I couldn’t have done it without my team, obviously. We played as a team. Last week wasn’t as good, but we stepped up in practice and we played like a team. I’m proud of my boys.”

Fort Frye crossed midfield following the kickoff return, but a holding penalty helped thwart the drive. The second FFHS drive ended at 2:40 of the third when Thompson got through the Cadet line to drag down Hesson.

“This is awesome,” Thompson said. “We prepared for all this and we expected to win all week like coach said, so we can’t be more happy.”

As far as the difference from this week to last?

“Just our attitudes all week,” added Thompson. “Coach told us we could win all week and we believed it and we came out and won. The scoreboard proves it.”

Warren, which welcomes in rival Marietta next Friday, got its last six-pointer at 10:07 of the fourth on a Sealey 2-yard TD run.

Tyler Plummer ended the Cadets’ final drive when he picked off Hesson, who finished 6 of 13 for 57 yards.

Clayton Miller led the Cadets with 10 carries for 70 yards.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com