Pioneers prepare for CHS’s strong rushing attack
|
Warren County’s last win over the Cavaliers came on Sept. 11, 1992, in a 14-13 nail-biter that proved to be the first victory in then-head coach Franklin Fisher’s career. The game also gave the Pioneers a 12-11 lead in the all-time series against their Putnam County foes.
But as the years have passed, the Cavaliers have taken a healthy lead in that series, upping their edge to 20-12 last season with a 20-7 win last year.
To end their current losing streak against the Cavaliers, coach Chris Madewell said the Pioneers will have to brace for a powerful rushing attack, led by fullback Stevie Buckner.
“They’re going to power a lot,” said Madewell, who was named acting head coach due to the suspension of Gerald Tidwell. “They’ve got a big fullback that will power the ball on you.
“(Defensive coordinator John) Dryden has come up with a pretty good defensive plan, and if we can implement it, I feel we’ll be successful stopping them.”
Lebanon’s Blue Devils found out stopping Buckner and the Cavs is no easy task last week, as Cookeville rolled to a 28-0 win at home. Buckner finished with 109 yards on 22 carries and three touchdowns in that win, while as a team the Cavs ran the ball 53 times for 202 yards.
Despite Cookeville’s tendency to use a ground-oriented attack, Madewell noted the Pioneer secondary will have to be on its toes tonight, as well.
“They’ve only thrown 10 times in the last two games, so we don’t expect them to throw a lot,” he said. “But when they throw it, they spread it out and come at you. They don’t do that often, so it’s pretty obvious when they’re going to throw it, and we’ve just got to be disciplined in the secondary and keep everything in front of us.”
Kickoff for tonight’s game is scheduled for 7:30.