Warren High School’s Anthony Johnson prepares to catch a second-quarter pass from Ross Dausin as O’Connor’s John Helle moves in. Photos by Marvin Pfeiffer

O’Connor coach Danny Padron and his staff had the Warren Warriors pegged.

“We knew all along that we weren’t going to try to play with these guys,” said Padron. Warren was just too dangerous. “We felt like we had to take our chances and we felt all along that we were going to attack.”

Attack they did, all the way to the last drive of the game where the Panthers scored a touchdown on fourth and inches from the 2-yard line with 13 seconds remaining to bring O’Connor within a single point of the undefeated Warriors.

Attack they did, successfully converting the ensuing two-point conversion play with a gutsy pass from Bruno Reno to Sean Luchnik for the victory and the District 28-5A crown.

The game was billed as the “Game of the Week,” pitting two NISD schools at the top of their games against each other: No. 1 Warren (9-0, 7-0) versus No. 5 O’Connor (7-2, 7-0), in the winner-take-all game for the District 28-5A title. On display were Warren’s speed and defense versus O’Connor’s physical ball control offense.

Warren came into the contest with an unblemished record. Only Clark and Stevens were able to put a dent in their armor, but neither team was able to pull out a victory over the Warriors.

O’Connor opened the season 0-2 with losses to Reagan and Madison but had regrouped and had run the table against the rest of the district as Warren has done. Clark was the only team who had come close to the Panthers.

There was a packed house at Farris Stadium for the clash and everyone there got their money’s worth and then some.

O’Connor struck first on their first possession of the game. They methodically drove from their own 14-yard line, scoring on the eighth play of the drive when Bruno Reno hit Sean Luchnick on a four-yard toss for the touchdown and the 7-0 lead when Saul Meza converted the extra point.

Warren quickly answered with a five-play drive, culminating in a touchdown on a 46-yard run by Martel Moore with 7:13 remaining in the quarter. The game was turning out as predicted.

The Panthers chewed up the remaining time in the quarter and scored on the initial play of the second quarter on a fourth-and-goal run from the one-yard line by Jerreal Minor, which ended the scoring for the first half at 14-7.

Neither team was able to do much in the third quarter until Warren defensive back Darryl Morris picked off a Reno pass deep in Warrior territory with 25-seconds left and Keith Lawson quickly stunned the crowd with an electrifying 68-yard run down the right side of the field. Lawson finished with a game high 141-yards on the day.

O’Connor High sophomore running back Jerreal Minor crosses the goal line for the Panthers’ third and final touchdown with 13 seconds remaining in the game. O’Connor tacked on a two-point conversion to win the game, 22-21.

That’s when the determined Panthers made their final attack.

They methodically took the ball down the field, twice converting on fourth-and-one plays until the fourteenth play of the drive when Jerreal Minor punched it in on a fourth-and-inches from the two for his second touchdown of the day.

“I just depend on my linemen,” said Minor who led O’Connor in rushing with 76 hard-fought yards on 20 attempts. “We were just sticking it out as a team and we just got it in.”

Coach Padron had already decided to go for broke on the conversion by that time.

“We were going to the playoffs and we were going to attack,” said Padron. “We made that decision all the way back, we just knew we were going to go for it (two point conversion).”

“I was saying the whole way down when we were driving, ‘I hope we go for two, I hope we go for two,” said Sean Luchnik who scored on the game-winning play. “And then we go for two and get it. It’s just unbelievable!”

“At first we were going to run a running play,” Luchnik said. “But then we decided to pass it and as soon as they called that play I was like ‘Yes!’ because I knew I could do it. It’s one of my favorite plays.”

“It’s just a great feeling,” he said of the successful conversion and the win.

“They had a real good defense,” the senior wide receiver added of Warren. “It just seemed like they had more guys on the field than us. It felt like they always had an extra guy. They had a lot of speed – a physical team too – not just a speed team. Definitely one of the toughest games of my high school career.”

Though the game will long be remembered as a “classic” for the memorable ending, the two schools have a bigger goal to pursue. A state championship.

O’Connor will take on Corpus Christi Carroll (8-2) in the first round of first round of the Division I playoffs at 7:30 p.m. this Friday night at Farris Stadium in pursuit of that goal as will Warren, who will travel to Corpus Christi for a 7:30 p.m. game at Buccaneer Stadium against Corpus Christi Ray (also 8-2) in their Division II contest.