Warrior Defense Leads the Way in Blowout of Westland

After a tightly contested first half that saw the Warriors up 16-6 in last Friday's Region II playoff game, the Warrior defense left no doubt in the second half that they would advance to the Region II quarterfinals.

Kye Graham kicked off the scoring with a 32 yard touchdown run on 3rd and 19 on the Warriors first drive of the game. They didn't find the endzone again until early in the second quarter when Isaiah Thompson hurdled a defender on his way to a 20 yard touchdown trot.

The Warrior defense gave up a 62 yard catch and run to Westland on the next possession leading to a 16-6 halftime lead but flexed their muscles in the second half, stifling the Westland attack.

After Westland received the opening kickoff, the Warrior defense secured turnovers that led to touchdowns on each of the next two possessions to help Wayne blow the game open at 29-6.

Avant Hunter kicked it off with a forced fumble and fumble recovery on the first possession and Sean Heisle intercepted a pass on the following possession. Later in the half, Heisle intercepted another pass, his second of the game, and the teams' third takeaway.

Graham finished the scoring with his third touchdown run of the game with 1:40 remaining, bringing the game's final score to 36-6.

Graham (106, 3td) and Thompson (217, 2td) combined for 323 yards rushing and five touchdowns on the ground the lead the way offensively. Graham also threw for 121 yards with Jamier Brown (6-60) and James Dyer IV (3-47) being the primary beneficiaries there.

The Warriors advance to a Region II Quarterfinal on Friday night at Findlay High School's J.C. Donnell Stadium at 7:00 pm.

Tickets will go on sale this week at www.ohsaa.org/tickets(Opens in a new window)