"You can never be satisfied in the playoffs unless you win your last game," said head Warrior coach Randall Gordon. "We lost our first game so you can imagine our disappointment. It was great to have a home game even though our crowd wasn't as large as we had hoped. We knew going in we had a tough task. West St. Mary was very talented at the skill positions which we knew but their lineman played better than we expected. The problem was our offense played behind the chains all night, and On defense we made them drive the field but busted plays is how they scored."
The game remained scoreless eight minutes into the second quarter. That is when Jason Pierre squirted along the left side on a quarterback keeper for a 22-yard touchdown run. The scoring drive was aided and abetted by a facemask penalty against the Warriors. The two-point conversion was good as the Wolfpack led 8-0 with 4:02 on the second quarter clock.
Terrance Holmes then returned the kick to the 38 yard line. He crossed midfield as a flag went down for holding against Oakdale. On first and 20 from the 28, Slate Jordan completed a pass complete to Holmes as the Warriors got back to the original line of scrimmage. After a loss of eight yards, Jordan's pass was thrown into coverage and was intercepted. The Wolfpack took over inside Warrior territory on the 48.
The Warriors got a breath of fresh air as they picked up a Wolfpack fumble, but Jordan's pass was intercepted on the next play from scrimmage. The time on the first half clock expired, but two seconds were put back on the clock following an unsportsmanlike penalty against the Wolfpack. Oakdale got the ball back, and Jordan found James Evins in the end zone for the score. The extra point was good as Oakdale trailed 8-7 at the half.
Each team went three-and-out to begin the second half. On the Wolfpack's second possession, Holmes picked off the pass from Pierre and returned it 80 yards for the score to give the Warriors the lead. The two point conversion attempt was no good as the Warriors lead 13-8 at the 5:20 mark of the third quarter.
The Warrior defense was pitching shut down innings until just over five minutes left in the game as the Wolfpack regained possession on the Warrior 31-yard line. The visitors gained 13 yards to the 16 yard line. Evins stopped the run for 2nd and 10, before the Wolfpack was flagged for illegal substitution. Pierre's pass was complete for third and three from the eight yard line for a first and goal. A timeout was called on the field after a gain of 1 with 3:09 remaining in the game. West St Mary then scored on a busted play from two yards out. The two-point try was stopped as the Wolfpack led 14-13.
"At the end they outplayed us and their speed was too much for us," Gordon said. "We made too many mistakes mentally, physically, and in preparation to win a playoff game. Our younger guys will have to learn from this experience where we don't have this let down again. We are losing 10 seniors who played their last game and they will be missed."
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