Preston Tarrence added considerably to his highlight clips Friday night against visiting Bardstown.

The Warren East junior, making his first career varsity start at outside linebacker, ended up with a few more firsts by the end of the Raiders’ 36-6 victory.

Tarrence had turned his first career interception into his first touchdown, then blocked his first punt before finishing off his night with his first career sack.

“I just want to thank all my teammates for putting me in that position to make all those tackles and sacks and the blocked punt, and I want to thank God too for healing myself,” said Tarrence, who’s missed significant time this season with injuries. “We needed the momentum to go into the playoffs.

“We needed it really bad because we took a loss to Franklin-Simpson for the district championship and we want to see them in the regional championship, too.”

Warren East (6-4) handled the rainy conditions much better than the visiting Tigers on Friday. The kicking game was particularly disastrous for Bardstown (3-7), starting on its first offensive possession when a high snap sailed over punter Korian Hardin’s head and into the back of the end zone for a safety.

The Raiders also blocked two punts and Bardstown shanked another for a 5-yard kick to set up another touchdown.

With the twin goals of getting his team through the game healthy and with a little momentum heading into next week’s first-round Class 4A state playoff game against visiting Hopkinsville, Raiders coach Jeff Griffith left Jim Ross Field soggy but happy.

“It was good to be playing a game like this at home, in bad conditions,” Griffith said. “(Bardstown is) a talented football team that’s very young. That’s going to be a dangerous team. This time next year, that’s going to be a very good football team.”

After Trevor Naftel’s 20-yard touchdown run put the Raiders up 9-0 with 2:22 left in the first quarter, the Tigers handed over prime field possession after ending the ensuing possession with a 5-yard punt to their own 23-yard line.

Two plays later, Warren East’s Thomas Maxey punched through the middle of the line for a 7-yard touchdown run.

Two plays after that, Tarrence stepped in front of a Brady Clark pass and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown that put the Raiders comfortably ahead at 23-0 with 10:41 left in the first half.

“Preston’s someone that all year has done a great job and has played a lot on our special teams and stuff,” Griffith said. “He actually got the start tonight because we had a kid out all week in practice.

“We’ve said all year the problem with him is he’s had a back issue. He hasn’t played a whole lot, but he was feeling pretty good tonight.”

The Tigers, held to just one first down and 25 yards of offense in the first half, couldn’t prevent the running clock to start near the end of the first half.

Warren East quarterback Nolan Ford capped a six-play, 45-yard drive with a

1-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter, and the Raiders got another short field on their next possession when Isaiah Boards came up with his team’s second blocked punt of the half.

Starting at the Tigers’ 14, Warren East needed just three plays to score as Naftel got his second touchdown with a 4-yard run.

“Offensive line was doing great, made holes,” said Naftel, who finished with a game-high 97 rushing yards. “I just hit the holes and kept going.”

The Tigers kept sputtering as the clock continued to run before finally breaking through with less than a minute to play. Clark fired a quick strike across the middle to Montrez Railey, who tipped the ball straight up and came down with it before dashing into the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown catch on the last play of the game.

Bardstown finished with just 58 yards of total offense. Drew Mason led the Tigers with 66 rushing yards.

“I thought we jumped on them pretty quick and took care of business,” Griffith said. “We played pretty well.”

BHS – 0 0 0 6 – 6

WEHS – 9 27 0 0 – 36

First Quarter

WE – Safety, punt snapped out of end zone, 9:54

WE – Trevor Naftel 20 run (Eddie Cano kick), 2:22

Second Quarter

WE – Thomas Maxey 7 run (Cano kick), 11:42

WE – Preston Tarrence 42 interception return (Cano kick), 10:41

WE – Nolan Ford 1 run (kick failed), 2:52

WE – Naftel 4 run (Cano kick), 0.57

Fourth Quarter

B – Montrez Railey 23 pass from Brady Clark (kick blocked), 0:55{&end}