MATTAWA - Judging by 30 minutes of play at Granger last Friday night, Wahluke just may be a state playoff contender in class A high school football.

In those 30 minutes, the Warriors went from 21-0 losers to 28-21 winners in a South Central A Conference cross-over non-league contest.

"I'm proud of the way our guys did not quit after being behind 21 points and handled adversity like a veteran team should," coach Brycen Bye said.

But there is little time to celebrate. Next up is the annual grudge match with state power and neighboring Royal. It will be played at Royal on Friday at 7 p.m.

The Knights are their usual selves again. They are on a three-game winning streak, scoring 41, 42 and 51 points in those games, nearly all before half-time. They've allowed only six.

This game will count in the SCAC East, where both clubs are 1-0. Both teams are 3-1 for the season.

The Warriors looked precise and controlled against Granger once they found themselves. There were no motion penalties, no false start penalties and no offsides penalties.

And there was no tentativeness, no holding back. Once the Warriors found their stride, they commanded the field.

Granger had the ball three times in the second half and went absolutely nowhere. A team that had scored 120 points in two and a half games, could no longer move the ball.

"We stopped their running game (in the second half) which stopped a lot of the momentum they had earlier in the game," Bye said.

Meanwhile, the Wahluke offense turned steamroller. It ran the ball at Granger for 365 yards, nearly all in that 30-minute stretch.

The big difference maker was tough and quick Warrior running back Francisco Cuevas. He was a relentless battering ram, jarring Granger for 240 yards on 30 carries.

"He really ran hard and made some huge plays for us," Bye said.

Although Johnny Abarca scored the winning touchdown with four minutes left, it was Cuevas's 47-yard blast over left tackle late in the third period that secured the win.

Wahluke scored on a long, time-consuming drive to open the second half. Then it forced a short Granger punt to the Spartan 47-yard line.

On the first play after the punt, quarterback Jared Sabin handed to Cuevas going left. Cuevas was in the secondary by the time Granger defenders spotted him. There were a couple of arm tackle attempts, but Cuevas ran away practically untouched.

Needing two points because of a blocked kick after the previous score, Sabin gave the ball to motion man Abarca going right, and  Abarca skipped into the end zone.

Wahluke's next possession and winning drive, after a Granger punt, started at the Warrior 16. It nearly died at mid-field but was saved by Sabin.

A holding penalty set the Warriors back to the 50 and second-and-12.  A repeat of second down netted only a couple of yards, and Wahluke appeared to be stymied.

On third down, Sabin called his own number and ran a quarterback draw to the left that gained about 20 yards. The Warriors threw Cuevas at the Spartans a few more times and then caught them leaning with a handoff to Abarca, who sprinted to the left corner of the end zone untouched.

Granger got the ball again, on its 35, with time to score, but the Wahluke defense smothered three running plays. On fourth down, the Spartans threw an incomplete pass over the middle. After that, Wahluke ran out the clock.

Cuevas finished the night with three scores. He converted a 6-yard run just before half-time to ignite the rally and capped the opening second half drive with a 2-yard run.

That score was a team effort. The Spartans stopped the play at the 1 but, when Cuevas didn't go down, the Wahluke line surged and shoved the pile-up into the end zone.

Other rushers for the Warriors were Sabin with 60 yards in 10 carries, Ricky Silverio with 29 in six attempts and Abarca with 28 on six totes. There were no passing yards. Sabin completed one of four attempts for zero yards.