Pioneers set to face Cookeville tonight
The Warren County High School football program will look to end its streak of two straight shutout losses when it hits the field tonight on the road against Region 3-5A foe Cookeville.
The Pioneers, who haven’t won since the 2001 season opener and have been outscored 123-7 over their first three games this season, will face a Cavalier squad that is 2-1 thanks to narrow wins over Lebanon and White County.
The Cavaliers opened their season with a 30-26 victory over White County’s Warriors, a team which downed the Pioneers 34-0 a week ago in Sparta.
After a Sept. 5 loss to Coffee County, Cookeville righted its ship last Friday with a 32-28 victory over the Blue Devils of Lebanon.
A high-powered ground attack has been Cookeville’s key to success thus far this season. Against Lebanon, senior fullback Stevie Buckner rushed for 200 yards on 32 carries, including 132 yards in the second half, and scored four touchdowns to lead his team back from a 28-6 deficit.
From his linebacker position, Buckner leads a Cavalier defense that returned several starters from last year’s playoff squad.
Quarterback John Ledford connected with Taylor Stearman on a 43-yard TD pass for the Cavs’ other score. As a team, Cookeville rushed for 333 yards on 63 attempts and completed 4-of-5 passes for 70 yards.
Earlier this year, in a loss to Coffee County, the Cavaliers went to running back Gus Paxton, who broke big plays of 63 and 28 yards for touchdowns in a losing effort. As a team, the Cavs rushed for 309 yards on 38 attempts.
The Cavs’ high-octane offense is a stark contrast from that of the Pioneers, who have struggled to move the ball throughout their first three games of 2003.
With the exception of a 67-yard touchdown pass from Josh Paz to Heath Crisp in the team’s opener, which helped them amass 161 total yards for the game, the Pioneers have been held to double-digit yardage offensively.
So far this year, WCHS has moved the ball just 304 yards, and has recorded just 13 first downs. Last week against the Warriors, the Pioneers rarely crossed the midfield stripe, and never got closer than 40 yards from the White County goal line.
Defensively, Warren County has seen strong effort early in its last two games, but fatigue from prolonged time spent on the field has led to giving up big plays late.
Kickoff for tonight’s game is set for 7:30 at Cookeville High School.