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WASHINGTON, Mo. 鈥� Tears were already streaming down the face of Warrenton senior Jake Kinney with three seconds left in the game.

Originally called to the varsity squad as a sophomore to be a kicker, his first season was cut short due to a right ACL tear in Week 5. And after fully rehabbing the injury heading into his junior year, he ended up retearing it once again in a Week 2 matchup against Washington.

And in his return to facing the Blue Jays nearly a year to the date of his latest injury, the emotions came out when he had a chance to secure the game for the Warriors in the dying seconds.

鈥淭here was so much emotion coming into this,鈥� Kinney said. 鈥淚 wanted to come out here and prove that I could come out and that I still am good enough to come out here even without an ACL.鈥�

With the clock expiring, Kinney nailed a walk-off 21-yard field goal to give the Warriors their first and only lead of the game for a 16-14 victory over the host Blue Jays.

鈥淚t was so stressful, but when it all came together it was so surreal,鈥� Kinney said. 鈥淚 had so much faith in all my guys that were out there for me. They all did their job, so at the end of the day I knew I had to do mine.鈥�

Kinney鈥檚 game-winning kick capped off nine unanswered points in the final quarter of play for the Warriors (2-0).

In its final two possessions alone, Warrenton went a combined 162 yards in the come-from-behind victory.

鈥淭his was exactly what I hoped our team would do this year,鈥� Warriors coach Jason Koper said. 鈥淲e came out flat to start, and it was a harsh halftime speech. But they grew up and I鈥檓 proud of them. And for Kinney to hit that game-winner, he pours his heart and soul into this team, and it鈥檚 just incredible.鈥�

The game-winning kick would not have been possible without the effort of senior wide receiver Jordan Lopez, who recorded 80 of his game-high 159 receiving yards on the final drive to take Warrenton all the way down to Washington鈥檚 4-yard line before calling the final timeout.

Not a bad way for Lopez to celebrate his 18th birthday.

鈥淎fter seeing all my teammates go down with cramps, I knew I had to be the one to get it done,鈥� Lopez said. 鈥淚 wanted it more than anybody else on the field. It was just strictly willpower at the end, but I just wanted to win it for us.鈥�

Warrenton went for the lead with 6:37 to go in the fourth quarter after an 11-yard rushing touchdown from sophomore Henry Schnieder, opting to go for the two-point conversion instead of an extra point.

But a big tackle from Washington junior Andrew Holdmeier at the 1-yard line kept it a 14-13 game in favor of the Blue Jays.

鈥淭hat was a heck of a play there, still don鈥檛 know how he got that,鈥� Blue Jays coach Matt Klein said. 鈥淲hen you see that, you know that you鈥檝e got to take a deep breath and score to make it a two-possession game. We had two chances to do it in the fourth and we just couldn鈥檛 convert.鈥�

Washington (0-2) was looking for its first win against Warrenton since 2022 and had the lead for 35:09 of the contest. But a pair of missed field goals in the final frame proved to be a difference maker.

鈥淲e drove the ball up and down the field, the defense played great, and we put them in bad positions to get some stops,鈥� Klein said. 鈥淎t the end of the day, we鈥檝e got to learn to finish. We can鈥檛 over-communicate that enough to this team.鈥�

It was a gutsy effort from Washington junior quarterback Carter Hill, who carried the ball 36 times in the game for 251 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Hill's first TD came from 46 yards out on his first carry of the day and his second was from 11 yards out to help the Blue Jays carry a 14-7 lead into halftime.

鈥淚 never expected to have that many rushes,鈥� Hill said. 鈥淏ut we had the whole sideline jumping up and down and our defense was shutting them down for the most part. Our momentum was crazy. We just didn鈥檛 ride it out for the rest of the game unfortunately.鈥�