Late October nights, the beginnings of chilly weather to come, and a road trip to Hamburg to round out 8-4A Conference play. Sounds like Lumberjack Football, and there’s no place I’d rather be this time of year. Maybe it’s the Halloween spirit and the nostalgia I associate with this game, at this particular place, that tugs at my heart. Hamburg’s south end zone has always been a special place for this writer. It was there, 18 years ago, October 31, 2003, that I played my first snap of football as a sophomore Lumberjack, knocking through the first of what would become many extra points on a cool Halloween night at Hamburg.
Since that 2003 season there have been some excellent battles between the Jacks and Lions. Warren and Hamburg are two schools that have, at various times, been power-centers of athletics in South Arkansas.
This 2021 season has brought a slightly changed dynamic between the two schools’ conference clash. Warren, sitting atop the 8-4A, first playoff seed in hand, and boasting an 8-1 overall record, traveling to face a Hamburg Lions team in the midst of a difficult transition of playing styles, and suffering the growing pains of a program trying to rebuild itself as a new creature. Hamburg came into Friday’s matchup with Warren well into the throws of one of their worst seasons in modern history, with an overall record of 1-7, far to the back of the pack in the 8-4A.
It’s been quite a while since Warren has faced a Hamburg team with this sort of record. The result was not especially surprising. However, it’s still a road game, at Hamburg, historically a difficult place to play. And no matter the record, you still have to go out and beat whatever is in front of you. That’s just what the Jacks did. They showed up, did the job, and now can look ahead to the start of postseason play after defeating Hamburg by the score of 42-17 Friday evening, October 29, 2021.
Warren, decked out in their classic white tops and black pants, sent out Jacari Lee and Charles Coleman as senior captains for the game for the midfield pre-game coin toss. The Jacks won the toss and elected to receive.
Tayshawn Johnson set Warren up with prime field position on their first possession, taking the opening kickoff back to the Warren 42-yard line.
In a real shot of good news, senior quarterback Riley Cornish was not only dressed out, but trotted onto the field to play his first game in some weeks. Cornish suffered a knee injury earlier this season. Man, was it good to see him back slinging the ball around.
On Warren’s first play of the game, Cornish went straight to work, connecting with the guy that’s been successfully occupying the quarterback spot since his injury, Maddox “Maddog” Lassiter. With Cornish back on the field, Lassiter was able to bump back into one of his old positions. The first Warren pass went to Lassiter for a gain of 18 yards into Hamburg territory. Warren made quick work of the opening drive. Just over a minute into the ballgame, Cornish hit Jarard Payne on a screen to the right. Payne did the rest, sprinting downfield for a 35 yard touchdown. Jose Jacinto’s extra point was good as Warren led 7-0 very early.
The Lions put together a decent opening offensive drive, taking the ball from their own 15-yard line to the Lumberjack 49, though the drive sputtered from there. They were forced to punt with around 7 minutes to go in the first quarter.
Warren picked up right where they left off on the next possession. Cedric Calbert burst forward for a quick gain of seven. Cornish then hit Tayshawn Johnson on a screen, which the wideout turned into a 33 yard gain. With the ball on their own 45, Coach Bo Hembree again went to the ground game. Cedric Calbert was given a handoff up the middle, where Warren’s offensive line had a huge gap opened. Calbert wasted no time, taking it to the house 55 yards for six. Jacinto again knocked through the extra point to extend Warren’s lead to 14-0.
Hamburg went to the air on the first play of their next drive. It would be the only play of their next drive. The pass went in the vicinity of Maddox Lassiter at linebacker. He tipped the ball in the air, had the awareness to look up and dive to his left, just pulling it in before it found the turf, picking up an interception and giving Warren the ball inside the Lions’ half.
A couple of plays later, after Warren had worked down to the Hamburg 18, Cornish buried a pass right in the path of Tayshawn Johnson on a cross route from the left side. Johnson took it in stride 18 yards for the score. Jacinto hit the extra point to make it 21-0 Jacks.
Hamburg was again forced to punt late in the first quarter, giving the Jacks the ball back on the Warren 38-yard line. A play later, from the 48, Cornish delivered another strike to Johnson on a cross route from the left, nearly an identical play to the previous touchdown. Johnson caught it in a little traffic, somehow kept his footing after nearly falling, and dashed 52 yards for another Lumberjack touchdown. Jacinto remained perfect on the night, hitting the extra point to bring Warren’s lead to 28-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Nine seconds into the second, Warren defender Lee Johnson got in on the action, picking off a Hamburg pass and giving Warren excellent field position again in Lion territory.
Less than 30 seconds later Jarard “New Orleans” Payne would walk into the end zone from 4 yards out on a right side screen from Cornish. Jacinto added the extra point as Warren led by the blistering score of 35-0 with a solid 11 minutes still to play in the second quarter.
Hamburg stitched together a couple of nice runs on their following drive, taking the ball down to the Warren 36-yard line. However, on third down Warren’s Vincent Davis applied a big hit off a little dump pass to slow the Lion’s progress. They would pick up a first down after a 4th down sack drew a personal foul flag on Warren that was rather questionable at best. Hamburg capitalized on the second chance, finally getting on the board with under three minutes to go before halftime by hitting a field goal on fourth down to cut the lead to 35-3.
Warren came close to answering with their own field goal with 1:20 left in the half, but the kick was blocked.
Into the third quarter, Hamburg receiving the opening second half kickoff, but were forced to punt, giving the Jacks the ball on their own 31.
Treylon Jackson came in at tailback, picking up a gain of six on the first play of the Jack drive. Jacari Lee took the next play to the Hamburg 43 on a speed sweep left. A play later, Jackson rushed for a big gain to the Lion 25-yard line. Lee would be called on for the next three plays, with three rushes ending in a two yard touchdown. Eli Densmore came on to kick the extra point. He booted it through the uprights to make it 42-3 Warren.
Coach Hembree would send on quite a few of his seconds on the depth chart in for the remainder of the game, giving other members of the squad some valuable reps. Hamburg would add two consolation touchdowns before the final whistle, but the result was never in doubt. Warren won by the final of 42-17.
The win over Hamburg not only added the Jacks’ ninth win of the season to the books, but it also solidified an undefeated conference season for Warren, who are now 7-0 in the 8-4A with Central of West Helena having already forfeited next week’s game which would have been the final conference game of the season.
While Warren is still looking for a possible opponent to fill the schedule gap, the Lumberjacks now hold an overall record of 9-1, with their only loss coming in week one to a very talented non-conference team in White Hall. The Bulldogs are now 7-2 overall and 4-1 in the very competitive 5A Central. So Warren’s lost to White Hall is looking pretty impressive after week nine.
Warren is officially the 2021 8-4A Conference Champions.
The Lumberjack offense put up a total of 353 yards on the night, with 133 on the ground and 220 through the air.
Cedric Calbert led the orange and black in rushing, carrying the ball three times for 68 yards and a touchdown. Jacari Lee had five carries for 44 yards and a touchdown. Treylon Jackson followed Lee with three carries for 44 yards.
Tayshawn Johnson had perhaps his biggest night in a Lumberjack uniform to-date, with five catches for 88 yards and two touchdowns. Maddox “Maddog” Lassiter came in second in receiving for the game, with three catches for 39 yards. Jarard “New Orleans” Payne had 37 yards on two catches, but he did add a touchdown. Freshman A.J. Jordan made his senior Lumberjack debut, picking up 34 yards on three grabs.
Senior quarterback Riley Cornish earned AHF Products Lumberjack Player of the Game honors for his performance passing. He completed 10 of 12 passes for a total of 186 yards and three touchdowns.
Warren now looks ahead to an uncertain week. It’s possible they might not have an opponent to face off against, but there is an effort being made to find a team to play. Nonetheless, beyond next week, it’s playoff time. Warren will have a bye in week one of the 4A State Playoff bracket, November 12. The Lumberjacks’ first playoff game will be November 19 at 7:00 p.m.
Saline River Chronicle will continue to follow any developments in a possible game for next week.
Top photo: Westin Gavin lines up on the defensive side of the ball during Warren’s Friday game at Hamburg. Photo by Robert Camp.
For more photos from Robert Camp from the Warren vs. Hamburg game, click here.
