Student Athlete of the Week 

Senior Hannah Jankauskas earned her second “Athlete of the Week” honor for the Fall, becoming the first ever girl from Warren High School to qualify for the OHSAA D1 Championship Golf Tournament. On the par 70 EagleSticks Golf Course, Hannah carded a career- and school-best 82, punching her ticket to the State Tourney by winning a pressure-packed sudden death playoff on the first hole.  Hannah helped lead her team to a District runner-up finish, and she will advance to play at the Ohio State University Golf Course beginning October 18.   

  https://www.ohsaa.org/sports/go/boys/bd1tee 

 https://www.ohsaa.org/sports/go/girls/bd1tee

Girls Soccer Tops Gallia

Vincent - Warren’s leading scorers both stepped up.

Sophomore Macie Smith notched two goals and junior Taylor Sloan one as the Warriors downed Gallia Academy, 3-1, Tuesday evening in an OHSAA Division II sectional semifinal girls’ soccer match at WHS.

Smith and Sloan each has 13 goals on the season.

“It’s been a battle between them two from the get-go, which is nice to have that competition,” said Warren head coach Andy Pinkerton. “They’re both been playing well this year.

“Sophie Cochran has gotten around 10 goals this year, and Jaelyn Ludwig has around seven. So, we’re pretty balanced offensively. It’s going to be a little struggle for other teams to play us, because we can score from multiple players.”

Warren junior keeper Millie Ryan recorded two saves.

With the victory, second-seeded Warren (11-3-3) is scheduled to play either Waverly or Jackson in a sectional final at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Gallia Academy exits with a 9-6-2 mark. The Leah Polcyn-coached Blue Devils dropped a 4-0 decision to the Warriors early in the regular season.

GA’s lone goal was by sophomore Kyrsten Sanders in the second half. Devils’ keeper Brooklyn Hill finished with 13 saves.

Warren was on the offensive from the start, and had Gallia Academy in a defensive posture for most of the opening half.

Warriors Headed in Right Direction

Vincent - Friday’s football game between Warren and Williamstown will ultimately go down as a loss for the Warriors.

In the grand scheme of things, though, it’s possible the game will be looked at as a turning point for the program.

Williamstown, a perennial W.Va. Class A football powerhouse, got everything it could handle from Warren. On the game-deciding play in the final seconds of the fourth quarter, the Yellowjackets came up with an interception in the end zone to seal the Warriors’ fate.

The thing is, this game could have been decided much sooner. Williamstown held leads of 26-17 and and 33-20 in the fourth quarter, which for Warren teams of the past may have seemed like too much to overcome.

However, this year’s Warren squad, led by a high-powered offense, never surrendered and gave themselves a chance to win. The ball didn’t bounce their way at the end, but that’s just the way football goes sometimes. This game showed signs the Warriors are headed in the right direction.

“These kids, hopefully they realize we’ve made tremendous strides as a program,” said first-year Warren head coach Matt Kimes after the game. “They’ve set the foundation for it. We’ll continue to build. We’ve got three games left and we’ll see if we can win them all.”

Entering this season, Warren had won just five games total in the previous five seasons, including a pair of brutal 0-10 years in 2017 and 2015.

Volleyball Advances

Vincent - Mistakes and sloppy plays made it closer than what the Warren Warriors and head coach Michelle Tyo wanted it to be after the first two sets when hosting the No. 9 seed River Valley Raiders in the OHSAA Division II sectional opening round Monday evening. After winning the first set 25-20, the Warriors dropped the second set 25-22 as the visiting Raiders rallied from a 17-12 deficit, that included a 12-4 run.

However, it was all Warren for the remainder of the night, taking the next two sets, winning 25-17 and 25-16 at Warren High School.

“We honestly didn’t play up to our potential tonight, there were moments where we played our game and I thought ‘you know, we are kind of going to run with it’,” Tyo said.

“But then we let them right back in the game. They had a couple of good servers and we just struggled on serves. I’m excited that they won, not super impressed with how they came out and performed tonight because we have to really step up our game if we want a chance to beat Vinton County.”

Haylee Morgan fed her teammate well the entire night, as she had a game-high 42 assists, along with 12 digs and two kills.

The Warriors need another standout performance from the junior at No. 1 Vinton County at 6 p.m. Wednesday night against the No. 1 seed Vinton County. The Vikings ended their season on year ago.

Senior hitters Madison Foy, Abby Gilliand, and Caspen Ford took advantage of Morgan’s team-first attitude by coming away with kills.

Yellowjackets Hold on to Beat Warriors

Vincent - It all came down to one play.

Eighteen yards from the end zone with 20 seconds remaining and down six, Warren quarterback Kurt Taylor rolled to his right. With pressure in his face, Taylor fired to the end zone. Williamstown’s Kole Sutton tipped the ball up and teammate Logan Richards snagged it, cradling the ball as he fell to the ground to secure a 33-27 win for the Yellowjackets Friday night.

The Warriors (4-3) led 17-13 going into the fourth quarter before Williamstown running back Ty Moore exploded for touchdown runs of 57, 74 and 34 yards to give the visitors a 33-20 lead with 3:54 left on the clock.

Taylor, who finished 26 for 47 for 293 yards, two touchdowns and two picks, connected with Josh Welch for a 14-yard touchdown to get the Warriors within six with 1:55 left.

Warren forced a three-and-out on Williamstown’s next possession and got the ball back with 1:17 left and no timeouts to work with. Taylor engineered the drive all the way down to Williamstown’s 18-yard line, converting a fourth-and-20 with a 39-yard pass to Brandon Simoniette to keep hope alive. Williamstown, though, came up with the defensive play of the game.

“They played super,” Williamstown head coach Terry Smith said of Warren. “Their quarterback played terrific. We slowed the run down pretty good and we were able to run the ball. It’s crazy because you hear people talk about, ‘You got to be able to run the ball and stop the run.’ That’s what happened tonight.”

Student Athlete of the Week (Sept 30)

Sophomore Caleb Davis captured medalist honors at the Sectional Tournament in Williamsport, carding a 79.  Caleb was masterful at the Crown Hill course, completing the 18 hole round 7 over par, leading the Warriors to a 2^nd place team finish and a berth in the District Tournament.  Caleb’s 79 was his 3^rd round in the 70’s this year.  

Volleyball Swept by Marietta

Vincent - Marietta did what it needed to here Thursday as the Tigers spoiled senior night for host Warren during a 25-23, 25-20 and 25-18 sweep of head coach Michelle Tyo’s Warriors.

In late August, the Tigers swept the Warriors 25-11, 25-21 and 25-21 with Hannah Kroft’s 16 kills paving the way. Once again, it was Kroft leading the hitting barrage with a match-high 15 kills as the Tigers improved to 14-8 with sectional play opening up at 6 p.m. Wednesday when Unioto invades.

MHS head coach Ron Kidder wasn’t exactly happy with his team’s performance, especially after the way his Tigers fought on Tuesday in a tough three-set loss to Division II power Dover.

“Tonight, we didn’t play well,” admitted Kidder, who received nine downed spikes apiece from Betsy Wriston, Sophie Evans and Sydney Wright while setter Kaitlyn McClead had four aces and 37 assists. “I told them we’ve got to play better, but we won.

“Sometimes you can win and not play your best game. If we can play like we are capable of playing, we can make a run in the tournament. We just have to tighten up on a few things and be a little more consistent.”

Warren’s seven seniors — Madison Foy, Abby Gilliand, Lindsey James, Jacey Barnes, Myah Husted, Caspen Ford and Makayla Aiken — closed out the regular season 7-13, but will start anew in sectional play at 6 p.m. Monday when the Warriors return home to face River Valley.

Boys Soccer Falls to Marietta

Marietta - The Marietta Tigers needed only the first half to put away rival Warren, by finding the back of the net six times. Led by a hat-trick from senior goal machine Ryan Mannix, a brace by fellow senior Jake Craven and a goal from sophomore Kamden Lankford, Marietta cruised to a 6-1 win versus the Warriors Thursday night at Jerry Brock Field.

Scoring a hat-trick in two straight games for the No.8 ranked team in the Division 11 OSSCA State Poll, the Tigers’ (14-0-1) all-time single-season record holder in goals continued to find the back of the net with ease. Mannix scored three straight goals for the Tigers in the 9th, 16th and 27th minutes. With the hat-trick, Mannix makes his record a little bit harder to reach, as the senior now has 32 goals on the season.

Craven was only one goal off from matching with a hat-trick of his own when he scored off an impressive strike outside of the box off an assist from Mannix at the 29th minute.

Drawing a foul in the box two minutes later, Craven drilled home the game’s final goal on a penalty kick.

“The first half was great. It was very clinical, some great finishes. One of Ryan’s goals, Jake’s first goal, just great stuff,” Marietta coach Todd Morris said. “We were all over the field, just lots of ball movement. The ball was moving quickly. In the second half, we lost a little bit of the intensity. We were a little on the sloppy side. But it’s always good to beat Warren and for these seniors, it’s maybe the last time they play Warren. So it was a good win for us.”

Jankauskas and Dennis Headed to State

Vincent - Hannah Jankauskas made golf history at Warren High.

The Warrior senior became the first girl at the Washington County-based school to qualify for the state tournament when she carded a career- and school-best 82 Monday at the par 70 EagleSticks Golf Course in the OHSAA Division I East/Southeast District Tournament.

Jankauskas, an Otterbein University recruit, needed to win a sudden death playoff hole on the first hole against Miami Trace sophomore Alyssa Butler to advance to Columbus.

“She got up and down to make a par which won the hole. Her mental toughness under lots of pressure was amazing.”

On the boys side, Dennis carded a 39 and 36 to finish with a 75.

“Seth punched his ticket to state with a gritted back nine to finish 75,” said Warren boys coach Nathan Evans.

Overall, the Warriors were second with 326 points to district champion Dover’s 309. After Dennis, sophomore Jacob Smeeks shot a career-low 78. Chance Weihl had an 86; Caleb Davis, 87; and Nathan Heft, 92. “I thought our team hung tough all day,” Evans said.

Football Hosts Williamstown Tomorrow Night

Vincent - Since a season-opening loss to two-time defending W.Va. Class A state champion Wheeling Central, the Williamstown Yellowjackets have been nothing short of dominant.

The Terry Smith-coached squad not only is 5-0 since week two, but has outscored its opponents 177-14.

The offense has clicked on the ground and in the air while the defense has been suffocating. It’s what folks have come to expect from Williamstown football since Smith took over.

Last week, the ‘Jackets defeated rival St. Marys 35-0, the defense’s third shutout of the season. It sets up an intriguing matchup this Friday as Williamstown’s vaunted D travels to Washington County to take on a Warren offense that is averaging 38.5 points per game this season.

“I think we match up alright,” Smith said. “(Warren’s) certainly improved quite a bit. They look really good. They throw the ball around and they catch the ball well. They’ve got some good athletes.”

Junior quarterback Kurt Taylor leads the Warren offense, with Evan Gandee and Brandon Simoniette forming one of the top receiving duos in the state. Taylor this season is 107 for 160 passing for 1,652 yards, 20 touchdowns and five interceptions. Gandee has 36 receptions for 635 yards and nine touchdowns while Simoniette has caught 37 balls for 588 yards and six TDs.

Student Athlete of the Week (Sept 23)

Senior captain Sommer Saboley had another stellar week as she and her defensive crew recorded 2 more shutouts and allowed just 1 goal in 3 games. Sommer’s leadership and energy has helped the team earn 7 shutouts thus far and a 10-1-2 record. Often overlooked on a stat sheet, Sommer and her defensive stoppers create a lot of havoc, as evidenced by allowing just 8 goals in 13 games.

Girls Soccer Falls to Marietta

Vincent - Marietta High featured a family scoring act.

Senior co-captain Maria Pfaff had two second-half goals and younger sister Kristen Pfaff added an insurance score as the Tigers defeated host Warren High, 3-1, in girls’ rivalry soccer action Thursday night.

“I’m more proud of Kristen’s goal than both of mine,” said Maria Pfaff, an attacking midfielder. “It’s nice to see both of us working together. We only have one season together, and we’re making the most of it.

Junior Courtney Schuck, junior Ava Limegrover, and senior co-cap Sam Zumwalde each had an assist for the winners, while sophomore keeper Jocelyn Rings finished with three saves.

Senior defender Sommer Saboley had Warren’s lone goal while junior keeper Millie Ryan recorded six saves. Senior McKenna Wynn had a non-goalied save in the first half.

“It was a rough field, and their goal-keeper did a really good job,” said MHS head coach Jeff Price. “I mean, there was a couple of times I don’t think other goal-keepers would have gotten the ball.

The Warriors fell to 10-2-3 on the season.

“The score was 3-1, but they’re a good team,” Pfaff said.

Volleyball Wins Five-Set Thriller

Vincent - Warren High was looking at a possbile sweep on the volleyball court after claiming the first two sets against visiting Fort Frye.

But just like that the momentum switched and the rallying Cadets came back to force a fifth and final game, which the Warriors won, 15-9, Monday night to claim the best-of-5 match, 3-2.

“I knew Fort Frye would come out gunning for us,” WHS head coach Michelle Tyo. “They’re not going to be a team that we’re going to easily beat in three sets. We had to really battle tonight to get the win.”

Warren won 25-21 and 25-15 before dropping 22-25 and 17-25 decisions.

“We won barely — but we won,” said Tyo, whose Warriors fell, 3-1 to the Cadets in Beverly on Sept. 11. “The mixture of it being hot, and my girls were just gassed that third set. I was trying find fresh legs that could step up.”

Warren senior middle hitter Abby Gilliand had a double-double with 14 kills and 15 digs to lead the way. Senior outside hitter Madison Foy also had a double with 10 kills and 19 digs, and senior outside hitter Caspen Ford finished with nine kills.

“Abby, Caspen, and Madison hit well tonight,” Tyo said. “All my players, they were being reliable tonight. We struggled at times with services, just hitting the ball, and stopping Maddie (Webb).”