WARNER – Warner set the tone for the night five plays into the game and never looked back in marquee matchup of Class 9B football teams Friday night.

The Monarchs stopped Hitchcock-Tulare on downs, scored on the next play and went on to a hard-fought 17-6 non-conference victory in a battle of unbeaten squads.

The Patriots received the opening kick and then decided to go for it on fourth down inside their 30-yard line on their opening possession.

“A couple of times I was surprised they went for it. You’ve got to be aggressive some times,” said Warner coach Derek Hoellein. “Before tonight they hadn’t punted the ball. That was our goal was to try to get them to punt the ball tonight.”

Hitchcock-Tulare went for it on 4th-and-2 and came up short, giving the Monarchs the ball at the 27-yard line.

“That’s kind of what we’ve done all year,” said Hitchcock-Tulare coach Hayden Hooks of going for it instead of punting, “so we had a lot of confidence going into it, we just didn’t execute the play.”

And Warner immediately jumped on that opening.

“They gave us an opportunity there to hit a big one early,” Hoellein said. “When we got that turnover we were taking a shot right off the bat, there was no question about it.”

The Monarchs wasted no time when they got ball, as Brayden Kroll fired a 27-yard touchdown pass to Beckham Cantalope less than three minutes into the game.

“I knew that play was going to be a touchdown. We’ve been working on that play all week,” Cantalope said. “That was as perfect as you could get. There was no better way we could execute that play.”

That quick-strike TD signaled what was about to transpire the rest of the evening.

“That was a very big play,” Cantalope said. “That showed that we came here to play today, we’re not here to just go through the motions. We’re here to play.”

The Monarchs also sent a message with that defensive stop and ended up slowing down a potent Hitchcock-Tulare offense that had put up 219 points in five games heading into the contest.

“We had a game plan for these guys,” said Warner junior Gage Knuppe. “A credit to my middle linebacker Brennan (Wolf-Donat). He was really good downhill tonight. Me and him were just wrecking shop down on the line of scrimmage.”

The Monarchs were prepared for what the Patriots like to do, and were able to prevent that big-play offense from getting chunk yardage.

“They’ve got some pretty big guys. All week we were learning on taking on pulls, because they like to pull two big guys around the end,” Knuppe said. “Our ends were doing a good job of hitting those pullers real low and forming really tight holes when they were running, and us linebackers just filled those holes.”

Knuppe had a big game on defense, finishing with 11 tackles and also recovering a fumble.

“He was all over the place. He’s the leader of our defense,” Hoellein said. “He calls all the strengths and gets everybody in position. He does a really nice job. He’s a big-time player. We ran behind him all night tonight, too.”

Including on Warner’s other touchdown when Cantalope scored from 11-yards out.

“I hesitated. Gage Knuppe, he was in front of me. He was lead blocking,” Cantalope said. “I was going to go on the outside, but I seen someone blitzing on the other side, so I just ran right inside. It was just open from there.”

Meanwhile, the Patriots had a difficult time gaining traction against the Warner defense.

“It just felt like we were going against a team that was so energized,” said Hitchcock-Tulare quarterback Devin Enander. “We just didn’t match up tonight.”

Enander kept the Patriots in the game and scored his team’s only touchdown on a 61-yard run on a 4th-and-5 play where he appeared to be trying to draw the Monarchs offsides.

The senior waited until the last possible second to snap the ball and then exploded through the line and raced down the sideline for a TD.

“That was the last thing I remember hearing is their coach yelling that we weren’t going to run a play and then we ran,” Enander said.

Enander said the plan was to try to draw the Monarchs offsides, but he was prepared to run in case they didn’t.

“We were trying to get them offsides,” Enander said, “and then we ended up running a play.”

Enander finished with 175 yards rushing, despite being the focal point of the Warner defense.

“The quarterback is tough. He obviously was who we were keying on tonight,” Hoellein said. “He kind of makes them go. …When (number) 3 gets in the open field, he’s a handful.”

However, outside of a couple of big plays, the Monarchs were able to keep Enander from racing all over the field.

“Their quarterback is a pretty speedy guy,” Knuppe said. “I thought we did a good job containing him around the edges until the end of the game where he was kind of getting some runs on us, but other than that I thought we contained him pretty well.”

The Monarchs were able to do something that no other Hitchcock-Tulare opponent had so far this season in holding the Patriots in check throughout the contest.

“They’re a well-coached team. You can see that on the field,” Hooks said. “There’s not a lot things that you can trick them with and things like that. You just got to man-up and beat them, and we just didn’t do that tonight.”

Warner eventually received a 24-yard field goal from Alec Mikkelsen in the final minutes to make it a two-possession game and ice the victory.

Cantalope rushed for 102 yards and also had 42 yards receiving.

“He took some big shots tonight. He ran hard,” Hoellein said. “We’ve leaned on him pretty hard for a sophomore to carry the load he’s been carrying. He does a phenomenal job.”

Both sides walked away from the game feeling the contest was beneficial and each talked about a possible rematch in the playoffs next month.

“It shows us where we’re at. It shows us we can compete with the best of the best,” Hooks said. “There’s going to be a lot of good things to learn from. … We hope to play them again.”

The Monarchs also talked about the potential of facing the Patriots in the postseason.

“I’m sure we’ll probably have a chance to see these guys in the playoffs next month,” Knuppe said. “Credit these guys. They’re a really good team and really (well) coached. I’m just glad we got the win today.”

And those in attendance Friday night, got a taste of what a rematch might resemble should the two meet again.

“This is a playoff atmosphere. … This is probably what the playoffs are going to look like,” Cantalope said. “You’ve got everyone in the crowd. You’ve got Hitchcock-Tulare. We’re going to see this is the future more than likely.”

Hitchcock-Tulare (5-1) 0 0 6 0 – 6

Warner (6-0) 7 7 0 3 – 17

W – Beckham Cantalope 27 pass from Braydon Kroll (Alec Mikkelsen kick).

W – Cantalope 11 run (Mikkelsen kick).

HT – Devin Enander 61 run.

W – Mikkelsen 24 field goal.

OFFENSE: Hitchcock-Tulare rushing (Enander 21-175, Max Gilbert 11-62), passing (Enander 2-8-2 for 12), receiving (Aiden Frankenstein 2-12), first downs 9; Warner rushing (Cantalope 22-102), passing (Kroll 7-11 for 69), receiving (Cantalope 4-42), first downs 11.

DEFENSE: Hitchcock-Tulare, Hudson Hansen 7 tackles, Enander 6 tackles, Gilbert 5 tackles; Warner, Knuppe 11 tackles and fumble recovery, Noah Bakeberg 11 tackles, Brennan Wolf-Donat 1 interception, Easton Bruns 1 interception.