WCMS football loses second straight game
Thursday night at Nunley Stadium, the Warren County Middle School football team faced a tough opponent, and a strong size disadvantage, in White County Middle School.
When the final horn sounded, the Pioneers had dropped their second straight game, falling to the Warriors 20-6.
Warren County (3-2) had 25 attempts on the ground for a total of 115 yards. Dexter Hillis led the way with nine carries for 67 yards.
White County took the opening kickoff and started on the 34-yard line. White County would run just four plays, however, as the Pioneer defense shut the Warriors down and took over on downs.
With 7:15 on the clock in the second quarter White County mounted a drive which started on their 27-yard line. Tailback Kaleb Arnold broke away from the Pioneer defense for a 37-yard gain taking the ball down to the Pioneer 22. Arnold would get the ball again and take off on a 22-yard touchdown to give White County a 6-0 lead, as the extra point was no good.
Warren County got the ball on its 43-yard line, but still had trouble getting any offensive rhythm. Warrior J.J. Taylor took a Tucker Chastain punt and returned it 38 yards, but the Pioneers shut White County’s offense down with tackles from Justin Bouldin and Todd Dunn.
Warren County got the ball back with 1:27 left in the first half and put together a solid drive, but was unable to reach the end zone and went in at the half down 6-0.
The Pioneers would get the ball starting the second half and mount a drive starting at their own 41-yard line. Hillis hit the outside and drove the ball down field for a 22-yard gain. Quarterback Levi Bain kept the ball on the next play and hit the hole for 14 yards, and Justin Bouldin took the Pioneers down to the 18-yard line.
With 6:37 left in the third, Bain handed the ball off to Bouldin again as he ran 18 yards to tie the game at 6-6. Bouldin finished with four carries for 24 yards on the night.
Bubba Bratton proved to be the workhorse for White County late in the third quarter as he took the ball around the right side and ran for a 43-yard touchdown. White County ended the third quarter with a 12-6 lead.
Warren County tried to mount an offensive drive in the fourth and moved the ball with some success, but used a lot of time off the clock. With 2:57 left in the fourth Bain dropped back to pass but was intercepted giving the ball back to White County. Bain completed two of his 12 passing attempts for 17 yards, and was intercepted twice.
The Warriors would find the end zone one more time with 2:21 left in the game, as Bratton would score on a four yard run. White County went for two, crossing the line to give them the 14-point win. White County had 26 carries for a total of 167 yards on the ground and put together a total of 181 yards of offense.
“We just didn’t have very much discipline out there tonight,” said coach Jeff Watson. “We made a lot of mental mistakes and you can’t make those against a team like White County.
“We didn’t do a very good job at the line tonight on defense or offense. Hopefully the kids learned something tonight and we can get back to practice tomorrow and correct those mistakes.”
The Pioneers return to action Oct. 8 on the road at J.D. Jackson.