Navarre's Jay Warren was chomping at the bit all week.
The senior tailback didn't get a chance to play in the Raiders' first matchup with the Pace Patriots, and he was ready to make up for it.
That he did, proving to be the difference in the rematch as he rushed for 243 yards and three touchdowns in leading the Raiders to a 30-10 win over the Patriots in the Region 1-6A quarterfinals.
"The whole week, I was just fired up and ready to hit it," Warren said. "We watched film of that first game, and I knew I would have some room to run."
Warren's 69-yard touchdown run -- a highlight-reel sideline-to-sideline jaunt -- put the game out of reach for the Raiders.
But his 47-yard run in the second quarter may have been the play of the game as it allowed the Raiders to get a Chandler Moorer field goal and go into the half with a 10-7 lead.
"I think that was really big," Navarre coach Jay Walls said. "It was a close game, and we were able to stay a step ahead. I think that's big, really big."
The Raiders (10-1) will now travel to take on the Milton Panthers (8-3) in the Region 1-6A semifinals next week.
"Warren is a good player, we knew he was," Pace coach Mickey Lindsey said. "They have a good team. They were better than we were tonight."
The first half was even, as Navarre struck first with a 10-yard run by Warren to take a 7-0 lead.
The score came after a muffed punt was recovered by the Raiders at the Pace 10-yard line.
The Patriots answered that touchdown with a 15-play, 82-yard drive that was capped by a 1-yard run from Quaide Weimerskirch to tie it at 7-7.
But Warren was there to answer for the Raiders.
His 47-yard run got the Raiders into field goal range and Moorer made a 24-yard field goal to take a 10-7 lead into the half.
Pace (7-4) got the ball to start the second half, but Navarre came up with a three-and-out to give it back to the Raiders.
Five plays later, Warren was crossing the goal line again, this time from three yards out to put the Raiders up 17-7.
Pace was able to get a 22-yard field goal by Ryan Santoso to pull to within 17-10, but the Raiders took all wind out of the Patriots' sails with a 5-play, 60-yard scoring drive to go back up 24-10 after a successful two-point conversion pass from Andrew Rieves to Jordan Leggett.
The dagger came on fourth-and-12 when Rieves scrambled to buy time. He heaved a jumpball to the goal line and Mikey Smith was there to pull down the pass and fall into the end zone for the 38-yard touchdown.
"We knew Pace was going to bring their best game," said Rieves, who was 5-of-9 for 80 yards. "We went back to that film (from the first game) and really just worked on cleaning things up.
"We just knew we had to play our best game because they were going to take it to us."
Pace's last gasp was short-lived as Brice Moore was intercepted by Cody Kelley at the 5-yard line to end a potential scoring drive.
Just four plays later, Warren was back doing what he did all night, taking the handoff from Rieves and findinng a crease in the Patriots' defense en route to a 69-yard touchdown.
"He does an outstanding job of running the football," Walls said.
At Navarre
NAVARRE 30, PACE 10
Pace...0 7 3 0-- 10
Navarre...0 10 6 14-- 30
Second Quarter
NAV -- Jay Warren 10 run (Chandler Moorer kick), 10:10.
PACE -- Quaide Weimerskirch 1 run (Ryan Santoso kick), 3:07.
NAV -- Moorer 24 FG, 0:37.
Third Quarter
NAV -- Warren 3 run (Moorer kick), 8:43.
PACE -- Santoso 22 FG, 0:43.
Fourth Quarter
NAV -- Mikey Smith 38 pass from Andrew Rieves (Jordan Leggett pass from Rieves), 10:26.
NAV -- Warren 69 run (pass failed), 7:00.
