Photo Credit: Jeff Stead/PrepsKC 
With the game tied at 31 late in the fourth quarter Warrensburg offensive coordinator Kyle Westphal called the perfect play.
Facing a 3rd-and-7 at the Pleasant Hill 19-yard line, Kyle Westphal dialed up a slip screen to running back Trey Murphy. Murphy eluded several Pleasant Hill defenders and slipped his way into the end zone to give the Tigers a 38-31 lead.
The Tigers were able to hold onto the lead and preserve the win to upset the No. 4 ranked Pleasant Hill Roosters at Eklund Field on Friday.
“Oh, it was huge,” Warrensburg coach Chris Cavanah said of the screen. “I’m not calling the offense. Our offensive coordinator dialed that up. He (Kyle Westphal) did a great job of holding onto that. We hadn’t run it this game or run it this year.”
Pleasant Hill (6-1) had several chances to tie the game, however, several untimely penalties derailed the comeback attempt as Do Daniel’s pass to Tyler Wise fell incomplete on 4th-and-18.
Trailing 3-0 midway through the first quarter, Pleasant Hill called on its dynamic rushing attack to get on the board as Grayson Sudduth took a reverse 36 yards to give the Roosters a brief 7-3 lead.
Warrensburg wasted little time responding on its ensuing possession. The Tigers used a punishing rushing attack led by AJ Smith to set up 4-yard touchdown pass from Kobe Westphal to Jack Smith-Taylor to give the Tigers a 10-7 lead.
After forcing the Roosters to punt, Warrensburg’s offense started at its own 1-yard line. Westphal methodically moved the Tiger offense down the field, facing a 3rd-and-4 at the Pleasant Hill 26-yard, Westphal found Smith-Taylor on a fade to push Warrensburg’s lead to 17-7, the touchdown capped off a 9-play, 99-yard drive.
“We’ve got a group of very good receivers,” Cavanah said. “Quinn Conley is our headliner, he’s our main guy. But Jack Smith-Taylor, Ty Carman and Tristan Blew are three guys that can get the job done for us.”
Looking for life, Pleasant Hill leaned on its rushing attack, led by Garrison Hartsell and Brayden Bush. Bush and Hartsell gashed the Tiger defense much of the night, and facing a 3rd-and-goal, Hartsell scored his fourth touchdown of the season with a 9-yard run up the gut to trim the lead to 17-14 just before halftime.
