The Blue Devils stay alive and continue their Cinderella story in the 2025 High School Football season. This is their third straight trip to the third round of the playoffs, this year being the 27th seed upsetting the #6 Palatine Pirates and #11 Barrington Broncos. This article will recap the game against Barrington and preview Friday’s matchup against the #14 York Dukes.
Warren quickly started the game from behind when Freshman running back for Barrington, Lamar Osterhues, broke out a 47-yard run not even a minute into the contest. Osterhues had previously had ten carries for fifty-five yards but he wound up taking over this game. A constant theme in this game for Warren was their ability to strike back and they did just that as their first play on offense was a 70-yard rush for Aaron Stewart. This pushed him over the 2,000-yard milestone to total 2,348 yards following the conclusion of this game. The next closest player doesn’t even have 1,800 on the ground. He capped off the drive, punching in a 6-yard touchdown to tie the game at seven apiece. In the second quarter, Stewart came through with another 50+ yard run to set up a 4-yard touchdown to put the Blue Devils up 14-7. Barrington’s Osterhues broke free for the second time with a 67-yard touchdown to set the game at a deadlock once again. After a short punt by Warren, Barrington’s quarterback, Nick Peipert, drove the Broncos down the field so Lamar Osterhues could get his third touchdown of the half. However, they missed the extra point, and Warren was down 20-14.
Something changed during halftime for Warren, not allowing a single point in the third quarter; this was all while Aaron Stewart continued to produce for the Blue Devil offense adding another two touchdowns to his stat-line to make the score 28-20 Warren. In the fourth quarter, Osterhues again scored a long touchdown, cashing in for a 54-yarder making it 28-26. Barrington attempted a two-point conversion to tie the game and the Devils defense held strong. Coming down the stretch with less than three minutes left, Barrington had the ball in the red zone in Warren territory. Senior running back Calvin Jackson, who rushed for over 1,300 yards this season, ran the ball down to the Devil’s goal line when Senior Antonio Moore punched it out and Senior defensive lineman DJ Coleman recovered the fumble. Aaron Stewart ensured the game was out of reach with a 92-yard touchdown to take a two-possession game. To finally seal the deal, Royce Lopez caught an interception to advance Warren to the third round of the playoffs. Lamar Osterhues of Barrington finished with 177 yards on only seven carries. Aaron Stewart had yet another monster game logging 373 yards on 43 carries with a whopping five touchdowns. The Blue Devils will need to continue their success, especially in the run game, to their next matchup against York.
The York Dukes are the lowest seed that the Devils have faced this far but they are here for a reason. It starts with their Senior quarterback, Bruno Massel, a decorated track athlete who qualified for state last year. In their dominant 35-17 win against the third-seeded Oswego, Massel took off for 173 yards on 21 carries and three total touchdowns as a quarterback. York was only one yard short of three players that rushed for 100 yards against Oswego and Massel was one of them. Another one of those players is their running back, Jimmy Conners, who is also unique and plays both offense and defense as a linebacker. Last week, he ran for 113 yards on 13 carries and forced a fumble on defense. The player who recovered that fumble is Joseph Reiff, a defensive lineman committed to play at Notre Dame who also plays on the offensive line. Warren will have their hands full with him all day. York has a point differential of +47 in playoff games so far, stomping past Edwardsville 36-7 in their first playoff game. Their only two losses in the regular season came against Downers Grove North and Lyons (who the winner will most likely see in the next round) who have combined for one loss this year. During the regular season, their offense had double the points scored than the points they’ve allowed on defense.
York may not seem as intimidating as Palatine or Barrington for example but unfortunately for Warren, they do not match up well. A problem for the Blue Devils’ defense has been containing the quarterback scramble. Warren gave up 77 rushing yards to Aidan Crawley of Stevenson and 135 yards to Constantine Coines of Maine South. York quarterback Bruno Massel will look to do the same which should be a focal point for Warren’s preparation this week. Also, in the first round, Edwardsville running back, who averaged 80 rushing yards a game and had 8 touchdowns, was held to just 39 yards on 16 attempts. Ultimately, the biggest key for Warren is to contain York’s key playmakers like their quarterback, running back, and defensive lineman mentioned earlier. This will need to happen by picking up consistent gains on the ground with Aaron Stewart throughout the game which has been working so far in the playoffs.
If you haven’t considered going to the game, now is the time to go. The Devils are in the thick of the playoffs and every game matters. York hosts Warren on Friday, November 15th at 7:30 PM. Yet again, GO BLUE DEVILS!!!
