The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

BURBANK - The Waitsburg-Prescott football team played three solid quarters Friday night but had to hold on at the end to beat Columbia-Burbank, 26-23. The win puts the Cardinals' season record at 4-2, and marks the end of their no-league schedule.

"I felt we played our best three quarters of football as a team but could not seem to finish," said WP coach Jeff Bartlow. "Four turnovers and 91 yards in penalties hurt us and cost us at least two TD's in the second half."

Left: WP's Owen Lanning takes a handoff from quarterback Jacob Dunn and prepares to roll to the right. Right: WP defensive backLuke Alexenko reaches to break up a pass reception by a Columbia-Burbank receiver. The Cardinals wore their black jerseys, even though they were playing on the road.

The Cardinals jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead in the first quarter on a 19-yard Travis Crockett run and a 37-yard field goal by Antonio Benito. After a Burbank score, Benito added a 22-yard field goal and Kobie Brown ran the ball in from the six to give WP a 19-7 lead at the half. On that score, Benito missed his extra point attempt - his first miss of the season.

Despite the miss, Bartlow praised his kicker. " first two kickoffs sailed into the end zones for touchbacks," he said. "His two first-quarter field goals helped us win the game. He was awesome on Friday night and is a huge value to our team."

Linebacker Michael Grant led the Cardinal defense with 16 tackles. "Mike comes to work every day with a blue collar approach to the game," Bartlow said. "He works hard and can play with anyone in our league this year."

For the game, quarterback Jacob Dunn was 19 of 30 passing for 282 yards, but he also threw three interceptions. Crockett carried nine times for 54 yards and the one touchdown. Brown carried eight times for 40 yards and scored two touchdowns. Devin Acevedo led the team in receiving with seven carries for 92 yards.

For their homecoming game Friday, the Cardinals host a tough Tri-Cities Prep team in the first of three SE 2B District 9 league games. TCP leads the league with a 5-1 record.