Warren named OT Football Offensive POTY

November 22, 2018 | 12:01 am

Updated November 21, 2018 | 9:07 pm

Illustration by The Owensboro Times

The Owensboro Times selected Owensboro senior Will Warren as the 2018 All-County Football Offensive Player of the Year.

It didn’t take long for senior quarterback Will Warren to fit in with his new team.

After transferring to Owensboro in January, Warren and the Red Devils got to work and had an instant connection. He said it was a little tough taking on a leadership role at first, but he didn’t have anything to worry about.

“At first it was a little different,” he said. “Everybody welcomed me with open arms and I had a great time from the first day I was there.”

Head coach Jay Fallin said Warren’s dedication and determination made it an easy transition for everyone. Luckily, Fallin said, Warren came in early in the calendar year and was able to work through the offseason with the team.

“We try to tell our players the most important characteristic a leader must have is a tremendous work ethic because nobody is going to respect what you say until they respect how you work,” Fallin said. “Will is a testament to that. He’s got a tremendous work ethic. It didn’t take long for our kids to come to respect that.”

It also didn’t take long for Warren to start putting up big numbers, and in a single season he became Owensboro’s all-time leading passer. In his debut against Madisonville-North Hopkins, Warren threw for 254 yards and five touchdowns.

He ended the year with 3,279 yards and 37 touchdowns, and Fallin said Warren was able to thrive because he’s as good a drop-back passer as there is in high school football.

“He had tremendous success just being a sort of field general for our offense this year,” Fallin said. “We knew we would have success if we could get the ball into the hands of all five of our eligible receivers on any given play, and we had to have somebody who could drop back and feel comfortable in the pocket and survey the field. Will was able to do that with consistency throughout the year.”

In a season with plenty of big wins, the games against Daviess County and Bowling Green stood out as the most meaningful.

“The Daviess County game was a big win for us,” Warren said. “It was a statement game letting the city know we’re still here.”

In the second-round playoff game against Bowling Green, Warren overcame a pair of early turnovers and led the Red Devils to their first win over the Purples in 10 years.

“He wasn’t rattled by the moment,” Fallin said. “Bowling Green does a really good job of getting after the quarterback and that’s by design. They do that so that individual will panic and make bad decisions, and he didn’t do that. He maintained his poise and even came back from a few mistakes early in the game.”

Warren said it was something he tried to do all season — stay calm at all times and play hard until the end. While he was always working to improve footwork and other technical parts of his game, it was his leadership role that he felt he developed more than anything.

Warren helped lead the team to a 10-3 record, including an eight-game win streak, a district championship and a share of the city-county title.

He didn’t take all the credit, saying the team’s bond was what allowed Owensboro to have such success throughout the season.

“I got a lot better growing as a leader and on the field working in the pocket to find open receivers more often,” Warren said. “We started working out in early winter and the team chemistry kind of fell into place. We didn’t have to try for it. Everybody worked hard all summer and spring, then throughout the season we kept getting better game after game.”

November 22, 2018 | 12:01 am

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