Box Score PHOENIX, Arizona- The Warner Royals football team took a flight out to Phoenix to take on the #20 rabked Arizona Christian Firestorm on Saturday afternoon. Intensisty was high all week in practice as the team prepared for their opponent. From the opening kick-off, the Royals certainly did not disappoint their fans as they seemingly had a handle on their opponent all afternoon. Turnovers were the key to winning the ball gama for the Royals as the forced five fumbles and recovered three of them. The first and fourth quarters saw much of the scoring action as the Royals jumped on the board first with a 1 yard Mark Holmes punch in to the end zone to put the Royals up 7-0 early. Then on the Firestorm's next possession, Drew Clark would scoop up a fumble and run it back 22 yards for another Royals touchdown and a 14-0 lead. The Firestorm would get on the board with a 36 yard touchdown pass to make it 14-7, but Geness Kennedy would split the uprights with a 30 yard field goal to make the score 17-7 in favor of Warner. In the second quarter, Bryant Benton would run one onto the end zone form 12 yards out to extend the Royals lead going into halftime 24-7. 

Late in the third quarter, the Firestorm would strike for another touchdown pass to cut the Royals lead to 24-14 headed into the fourth quarter. DJ Davis would cap a 12 play 78 yard drive with a two yard touchdown run to make the score 31-14, but Arizona Christian would come back and get another touchdown pass to cut the lead to ten again at 31-21. DJ Davis would then get his lone passing touchdown of the afternoon to Theo Hammonds on an 8 yard strike to make it 38-21 in favor of the Royals. Arizona Christian had a lot of fight in them as they came right back with a rushing touchdown to make the score 38-28 with just 1:18 remaining in the contest. The Royals would then recover the on-side kick attempt by the Firestorm and run out the clock for the 38-28 upset victory.

This marks the first time in program history the Royals have defeated a ranked opponent. The Royals improve to 6-2 (2-1) on the season after the victory. The offense was led by DJ Davis going 9-16 for 94 yards and a touchdown passing while also rushing for 97 yards and a touchdown. Braynt Benton would finish the game with 147 yards rushing and a touchdown, while Theo Hammonds had 5 catches for 36 yards and a touchdown. Defensively, the Royals were led by Travell Sherrod with 7 tackles, 1 for loss, and a pass break up. Emmanuel Bien-Aime, Drew Clark, and Ronnie Harris all had forced fumbles while Clark recovered a fumble and ran it back for a touchdown. 

Warner will be back to action Saturday November 5 at 12 pm as they take on conference opponent Edwater Waters College at Legion Field in Lake Wales.