Cookeville runs over WCHS 41-0
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With junior tailback Gus Paxton and senior fullback Stevie Buckner leading the way, the Cavaliers (3-1, 1-1 in Region 3-5A) rushed for over 418 yards on the way to handing Warren County its third straight shutout loss.
“They were very physical,” WCHS head coach Gerald Tidwell said of the Cavaliers. “We knew they were going to be physical up front, and power the football.
“They’ve got a pretty good ballclub. I thought our kids hung in there nicely for a little over a quarter, but the floodgates opened for us there in the second quarter.”
Cookeville struck on its first offensive possession, when quarterback John Ledford took an inside handoff from Buckner, who had received the direct snap, and scampered 19 yards for a touchdown.
The play was one of the Pioneers’ first looks at a counter that would prove to be hard to stop for much of the game.
“We knew they were going to throw those unbalanced sets at us, and try to overload us,” Tidwell said of the CHS offensive attack. “So we tried to meet strength on strength, and that stinking counter hurt us.”
Starting at their own 27 on their second possession, the Cavs drove 73 yards for the first of their four second-quarter TDs. A 34-yard run from Paxton gave CHS first-and-goal from the 1, where Buckner plowed into the end zone to put the home squad on top 14-0.
Two quick drives put the Cavaliers well ahead later in the period, as Buckner scored on two-straight possessions. Both of his touchdowns came on 25-yard runs, and came on drives of three and two plays, respectively.
Paxton took over late in the half, running 23 yards on one carry then taking the ball on the next play for a 32-yard score to put the Cavs up 34-0 at halftime.
Convinced the Pioneers couldn’t stop their ground game, the Cavaliers never attempted a pass after intermission, and relied on the Paxton-Buckner combination to march 66 yards downfield on their first drive of the second half. Paxton ended the scoring drive, going in from the 9-yard line to give his team their final margin of victory — as well as giving his team’s starting lineup the rest of the night off.
Warren County looked as if they might erase their goose-egg late in the game, as a Josh Paz fumble recovery gave them the ball at their own 39. Paz, Jevon Ramsey and Jimmy Cunningham were able to move the ball effectively against the Cavaliers’ second-team defensive unit, but on third-and-6 from the CHS 15, an option pitch sailed over Ramsey’s head and was recovered by Cookeville, which was able to run out the clock and seal the shutout win.
“You don’t want to see those mistakes, but at the same time we’re not in midseason form in our option game,” Tidwell said of the Pioneers’ four lost fumbles in the game. “We had a change of four plays early on, and if we’re going to run the option, we’ve got to run it.
“We ran it better tonight than we have all year, I thought, but you can’t put the ball on the ground, especially when you’ve had trouble scoring.”
Buckner finished with 145 yards on 20 carries, while Paxton netted 156 on just 11 attempts to lead the Cavaliers’ offense.
Paz and Cunningham finished with 50 yards each for Warren County, while Ramsey had 30 on eight carries.
The Pioneers (0-4, 0-1 region) will play their third straight road game next Friday, when they travel to Tullahoma. The Wildcats fell to 0-5 on the season Friday night with a 24-17 road loss at Nashville Overton.
“Hopefully they won’t have the confidence they have each year,” Tidwell said of next week’s foe, “and we can go over there and play a school that’s down, and hopefully get a win and be competitive.”