Warren’s big lead was too much for White Hall to overcome despite a second-half comeback effort.
The Lumberjacks won 28-14 on Friday at Bulldog Stadium in White Hall for their first win of the season.
White Hall Coach Daryl Patton said the Bulldogs had to stop beating themselves to get back into the game.
“First half, I think we had four false starts, three mouthpiece infractions, three defensive penalties,” Patton said. “It’s hard to win when you have 10 penalties. So, just not beating ourselves. Just competing, just fighting. Defense, they stepped up second half and played a lot better.”
Warren (1-1) led 28-0 before White Hall began its comeback. Senior quarterback Wyatt Golden found Kel McEntire on an 18-yard touchdown pass to get the Bulldogs on the board.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Aiden Bitely recovered the ensuing onside kick for White Hall (0-2), and Golden capped off the drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Blankenship on fourth down to cut the deficit to 28-14.
White Hall’s defense did not allow any second half points and got a red zone stop in the fourth quarter, but the Warren defense answered. The Lumberjacks intercepted passes on each of White Hall’s next two drives, then got a red zone fourth down stop to seal the game.
Patton said the Bulldogs didn’t change anything defensively in the second half to trigger the comeback effort.
“We just played better,” Patton said. “Keep it in front of you. Don’t get beat deep. Tackle better. I was proud of the way the kids fought until the end. They didn’t give up, but I’m so tired. We gotta be disciplined, and that’s what we worked on all freaking spring and summer and winter.”
The Lumberjacks opened the scoring in the first quarter with an 86-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jackson Denton to junior Josiah Steen. Running back Aaron Davis added a pair of touchdown runs in the second quarter, to make it 21-0 at halftime. Zechariah Bush returned a third quarter interception roughly 40 yards for a touchdown to make it 28-0.
Denton finished 18 of 27 for 329 yards with one touchdown. Steen caught five passes for 207 yards and the score. Each of his receptions were for 24 or more yards. Davis rushed 22 times for 89 yards and two scores.
Golden completed 28 of 44 for 300 yards and two touchdowns. McEntire caught 13 passes for 117 yards, while Blankenship caught six passes for 93 yards.
Patton said he was proud of how the Bulldogs fought against one of the top teams in Class 4A in the second half.
“If we’ll play hard like that, compete like that for four quarters every Friday night, we’re going to win some ball games,” Patton said. “This conference is wide open. So, we just gotta keep getting better, play our best football as we move down through the season. Play our best football in November and see what happens.”