MATTAWA — If Wahluke High School will play this Friday at Burbank the same way it has the last two Fridays, the Warriors will land the SCAC East’s third berth in the cross-over games a week later.

Through the first six games, it was doubtful that Wahluke would go anywhere. Then coach Mike Foristiere made some changes to simplify the offense.

Since then, the Warriors have won two games against schools they hadn’t defeated for a while and took over third place in the SCAC East. The way they handled River View, 52-0, and Kiona-Benton, 36-28, they’ll be favored Friday.

You could question if Wahluke had improved after the win at River View. The Panthers are down this year. But Ki-Be was another matter. Up to last Friday, the Bears were considered the third-best team in the league.

If the Warriors win Friday, they will travel to Zillah the next Friday for a cross-over game. The highly-ranked Leopards will be favored, but Wahluke will have the momentum of three straight wins.

Although the score indicates otherwise, Wahluke bounced Ki-Be. The Warriors built their lead to 36-20 in the fourth period before Ki-Be could make a closing score.

The teams traded scores in the first half. Ki-Be scored first and was ahead 20-16 with 26 seconds left in the half.

In those 26 seconds, Wahluke covered 70 yards to take the lead for good. In two plays, including a 47-yard dash by Daniel Corrales, Wahluke moved the ball to the Ki-Be 5-yard line.

With three seconds on the clock, Brandon Anaya went around the right end to score as the clock showed zeros. Jose Alejo scored the 2-point conversion to make the score 24-20.

Fired up, the Warriors came out of the halftime break, took the kickoff and deliberately covered 82 yards to score again.

Committed to controlling the ball, Foristiere ordered three successful fourth-down plays. The drive took 10:30 off of the clock, and David Pineda scored on a one-yard run.

“We were getting three yards a crack. That’s why we went for it on fourth-and-1 and fourth-and-2,” Foristiere said.

The Warriors punted only once for the game. They had not punted at all the previous week.

Wahluke stopped Ki-Be’s next effort in the fourth quarter and took the ball back. The Warriors launched another drive nearly the length of the field to make the score 36-20.

With third-and-1 at the Ki-Be 24, quarterback Jose Madrigal crossed up the Bear defense, which was bunched for another ground attack. He faked a run into the middle and passed to Eathan Kinney for the score.

On the next possession Ki-Be drove the ball and scored with 1:26 left to make it 36 to 28. But a Bear on-side kick was recovered by Kinney, and the Warriors ran out the clock.

“Defensively we bent but did not break,” Foristiere said.

The Warriors produced 468 yards of total offense, including 393 on the ground. Madrigal connected on his three pass attempts for 75 yards.

“It was a very physical game, but our young men persevered,” Foristiere said.

Corrales led the defense with five tackles and one fumble recovery. Jason Cruz and Daniel Miron had five tackles each.

Cruz led the rushing with 110 yards on 15 carries. He also caught two passes for 51 yards. Corrales carried the ball eight times for 100 yards and two touchdowns.

David Pineda had 12 carries for 65 yards and one touchdown, Anaya carried 12 times for 48 yards and a touchdown, Alejo carried 11 times for 40 yards and scored three 2-point conversions, Miron carried five times for 20 yards, and Madrigal gained 10 yards on three carries.