The White River Hornets went in search of a third straight league victory Friday night, but instead ran into roadblock in the form of the Clover Park Warriors.

While the Hornet faithful were celebrating a Homecoming tilt, it was the visitors who celebrated on the scoreboard. The Warriors, on the strength of three explosive plays, rolled to a 26-13 victory on a dreary evening in Buckley.

The loss left White River with a record of 2-3 in South Puget Sound League 2A play, 3-4 overall.

It was the host Hornets who cracked the scoreboard first, getting a first-quarter touchdown on a short run by Austin Barker. The Warriors posted two TDs in the second period and two more in the third, however, to salt away the victory.

Clover Park’s Brandon Pritchett tore off a 65-yard scoring run for the team’s initial TD and J.T. Tomlinson added a 61-yard gallop to the end zone before halftime. The third quarter saw the visitors increase their winning margin when Damian Davis hauled in a scoring toss from Keila Pritchard and Tomlinson added another long TD run, this one from 42 yards.

The Hornets had reached  the end zone first and it was the Hornets who scored last. The game’s final touchdown was a short run by Tristan Knaus.

White River has two games remaining in the regular season. The Hornets will look to get back on the winning track Friday night when they travel to face the Steilacoom Sentinels. Steilacoom will enter the contest with a mark of 3-2 in SPSL 2A play, 3-4 overall. Things get considerably more difficult in the Oct. 26 finale, a home tilt against Sumner High. The Spartans, through games of last week, were a perfect 5-0 in league play and were 6-1 overall.