Warren advances to state semifinals

NASHVILLE — Warren advanced to the Class 4A state semifinals after toppling Nashville 48-40 at Scrapper Stadium on Friday night.

Nashville’s Ty Gordon threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Keyshawn Stewart with 4:36 left in the fourth quarter to inch the Scrappers to within 41-33. The extra point was wide right.

Gordon, a senior, finished with 252 yards on 20-of-30 passing, 3 touchdown passes, 3 touchdown runs and a pair of interceptions. He also rushed for a game-high 144 yards on 17 carries.

Tayshawn Johnson returned the ensuing kickoff 62 yards for a touchdown to put the Lumberjacks up 48-33 with 4:28 to go.

Stewart caught a pass from Gordon and ran 44 yards into the end zone to make it 4840 with 3:27 left in the fourth quarter. Warren picked up key first downs on its ensuing drive and ran out the clock.

Stewart, a senior, finished with 88 receiving yards on 7 catches with 3 touchdowns, and rushed for 70 yards on 13 carries.

Gordon had a 1- yard touchdown run for Nashville (9-3) with 4:38 to go in the third quarter to cut Warren’s 14-point lead in half, 34-27. But the Lumberjacks drove down on their next possession, and Cedric Calbert scored on a 6-yard run to pad the Warren lead again, 41-27, with 24 seconds left in the third.

Warren (8-4) went into the locker room with a 34-20 lead. The Lumberjacks outscored Nashville 28-7 in the second quarter.

Payton Byrd ran in a 5-yard touchdown for Warren to knot the game at 13-13 with 11:56 to go in the second. Jacari Lee had a long return off the Nashville kickoff to set the Lumberjacks up at the Scrappers’ 16, which resulted in Byrd’s score.

Keyshawn Stewart grabbed a pass from Ty Gordon and zipped to his right on an 8-yard touchdown to give the Scrappers a 20-13 lead with 8:04 to go in the second.

Jarard Payne caught a 68yard pass from Maddox Lassiter for Warren to tie the game at 20-20 with 6:53 until halftime. After Nashville turned the ball over on downs, the Lumberjacks drove down the field and capped the drive when Byrd scored from a yard out. The touchdown gave Warren a 27-20 lead with 1:08 to go in the second.

The Scrappers drove down the field on the arm of Gordon, but Lee stepped in front of a Nashville receiver, intercepted the ball and ran 67 yards for another Lumberjacks score with just 27 seconds left in the first half.

Lassiter finished with 178 passing yards as he hit on 7 of 9 passes with a touchdown. Lassiter also rushed for 61 yards on 10 carries for Warren.

Warren advances to next week’s Class 4A semifinals against Rivercrest, which eliminated Crossett 61-27 in the quarterfinals.