Fumbles plague Pioneers:WCHS puts seven balls on ground

By DALE STUBBLEFIELD / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

Fullback Ramsey Black is wrapped up by the Buccaneers’ Andre Smith (30) on a run up the middle. The Pioneers fell to 0-4 on the season with the non-region loss, which extended the team’s overall losing streak to 13 games. (Dale Stubblefield photos)

Turnovers continued to plague the Warren County Pioneer football team Friday night in their 50-12 loss to Beech High School. The Pioneers offense put together several strong drives in the first half, but found a way to turn the ball over.

Warren County fumbled on its first possession of the game after moving the ball successfully against the Beech defense. The Pioneers gained a first down after three plays, then dropped the ball in the backfield to give Beech good position.

The Pioneers would put the ball on the ground on their next two possessions, and even though they recovered the fumbles, the drives still stalled as the team was forced to punt.

Warren County put the ball on the ground three times in the first half and four times in the second, losing three of the seven fumbles. Beech had two fumbles on the night, recovering both.

“We started out in the game moving the ball and made the mistakes we shouldn’t be making,” coach Gerald Tidwell said of the offensive miscues. “The kids did a lot of good things tonight but teams that win don’t fumble and turn the ball over like we have been doing over the past three games.

“The line did a better job tonight and gave us the time we needed, but it doesn’t matter if we can’t pitch and catch it. I’ve said early on if we run option football were going to put the ball on the ground, and we don’t have all the ingredients to be a solid option team right now. We have to get the ball to the tailback on the outside to be successful and right now we are having a problem getting the pitch out there. We are having problems on when to pitch and not to pitch, and the only person that can correct that is the quarterback.”

The Pioneers will get back to work on Monday to try and correct those mental mistakes. Coach Tidwell and his staff will have to find a way to cut down on the costly turnovers.

“We have to get back out there on the practice field and go through drill after drill on how to pitch and catch the ball. If your going to run the option, you can’t be worried about being hit by the defense. You have to get out there and keep it or pitch it.

“So that’s what we have to work on pitching the ball and catching it. We will work on this all week. It’s just a matter of getting this in the kids’ minds, we do it in practice every day but have a hard time making the pitch in the games.”

WCHS vs. Beech Statistics
Buccaneers 50, Pioneers 12
WC 0 0 0 12 — 12
BHS 7 15 21 7 — 50
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Scoring Summary
First Quarter
BHS — R.J. Meadows 18 run (Josh Stringfellow kick), 1:25
Second Quarter
BHS — R.J. Meadows 46 punt return (Stringfellow kick), 11:38
BHS — John Michael Carver 24 run (Stringfellow run), 1:04
Third Quarter
BHS — R.J. Meadows 2 run (Stringfellow kick), 10:53
BHS — Danny Musgrove 9 fumble return (Stringfellow kick), 10:01
BHS — John Michael Carver 2 run (Stringfellow kick), 5:13
Fourth Quarter
BHS — Thomas Sheffield 8 run (Stringfellow kick), 10:45
WCHS — Preston Smith 3 run (kick blocked), 6:22
WCHS — Heath Crisp 12 pass from Jonathan Bratcher (run failed), :45
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TEAM STATISTICS
WC BHS
First downs 10 13
Rushes-Yards 39-215 33-206
Passing Yards 12 27
Return Yards 0 50
Comp-Att-Int 1-8-0 2-6-0
Punts-Avg. 5-24 2-39
Fumbles-Lost 7-3 2-0
Penalties-Yds. 3-23 9-86
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Warren Co. Rushing: Preston Smith 13-101, Ramsey Black 14-56, Jimmy Cunningham 4-25, Jonathan Bratcher 1-22, Joey Haston 4-6, T.J. Jarvis 1-3, Cole Langford 2-2.
Beech Rushing: John Michael Carver 9-70, R.J. Meadows 6-37, Thomas Sheffield 5-23, Danny Musgrove 1-16, Kyle Dimeola 3-31, Jeremy Leftwitch 2-10, Brandon Ussery 1-0, Eric Cartwright 2-(minus-2), Craig Foster 2-10, Cale Rice 2-10.
Warren Co. Passing: Jonathan Bratcher 1-2-0 12, Joey Haston 0-6-0-0.
Beech Passing: Craig Foster 2-4-0 27, Brandon Ussery 0-1-0 0, R.J. Meadows 0-1-0 0.
Warren Co. Receiving: Heath Crisp 1-12.
Beech Receiving: R.J. Meadows 2-27.
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Tackles (solo-assist-total)
Warren Co.: Ramsey Black 3-2-5, Tyler Boyd 1-4-5, Joey Haston 2-1-3, Justin Grissom 2-1-3, Jonathan Bratcher 1-2-3, Cole Langford 0-4-4, John Morrison 1-3-4, Brad Stewart 0-1-0, Greg Cotten 1-1-2, Chris King 0-3-0, Brandon Sharpe 2-1-3, Josh Holland 1-1-2, Matt Panter 0-1-0, Terrance Crim 1-0-1, Davey Britton 1-0-1.
Beech: Eric Cartwright 1-0-1, Ryan Warden 0-1-1, Micha Revell 0-1-1, Craig Foster 0-2-2, Matt Hudson 3-2-5, Jacob Stringfellow 0-3-3, Kyle Dimeola 1-1-2, Joey King 0-1-1, Andre Smith 3-3-6, Josh Stringfellow 0-2-2, Alex Meadows 0-1-1, Russell Wilson 2-1-3, Danny Musgrove 1-1-2, Zack Madison 0-2-2, Charlie Schmitz 0-6-6, Jonathan Smith 1-1-2, Thomas Henley 0-1-1, CArroll Moore 1-0-1, Nick West 0-1-1, Brian Montgomery 2-1-3, Daniel Johnson 1-0-1, Austin Braswell 2-1-3, Daniel Hobbs 1-0-1.