Warrenton was in a familiar situation in its regular season finale Friday at St. Charles High.

"Last year we took second in our district and beat St. Dominic at their place to make a trip to the playoffs," Warrenton coach Ken Moore said.

Warrenton’s 2008 playoff berth was its first in a decade.

And with a 35-7 win Friday, the Warriors again made the playoffs at St. Dominic’s expense. They led 21-0 at halftime and, after giving up an early third-quarter touchdown, finished strong to complete their district schedule 2-1.

"We’ve worked hard all season for this and we just executed our game plan," said Warrenton senior Cody Lemons, who scored two of Warrenton’s three first-half touchdowns.

Lemons’ two scores, a 13-yard run and a 23-yard reception from quarterback Scott Lathrop, were the first-half bookends for sophomore Nick Todd’s game-breaking punt return. His 43-yard return with 11 minutes, 34 seconds left in the second quarter put Warrenton up 14-0.

"That punt return was huge," Lemons said. "He hurdled one of our own guys on the ground then broke three more tackles and made it to the end zone."

Lathrop’s touchdown pass to Lemons with 5:50 left in the first half made it 21-0, but St. Dominic fought back in the third quarter.

Crusaders quarterback Evan Merz’s 57-yard pass play to Patrick Logel helped set up a 2-yard touchdown run from Christopher Ebers.

But Lathrop helped the Warriors respond with another touchdown drive. He converted a 4th down-and-10 situation with an 11-yard pass to Eric Christopherson and two plays later Todd scored his second touchdown of the day on a nine-yard run for a 28-7 lead. Christopherson scored the Warriors final touchdown on a four-yard run with 2:57 left in the third quarter.

"I’m really proud of our seniors because they helped us get into the playoffs two years in a row," Moore said. "That’s no easy task no matter what district you’re in or what kind of team you’re facing."

Warrenton improved to 6-4 overall, marking its best record since going 8-2 in 2001, and will face the winner of District 8 on Nov. 4 at a site still to be determined.

St. Dominic ends its season at 4-6.

"The better team won here tonight," said St. Dominic coach Bob Leonard. "We knew coming in that Warrenton could possibly be the best team in our district. They had two or three punt returns that really hurt us and they deserve credit for that. Our group played hard and had more success as the year went on. It’ll be a hard group to say goodbye to."