Pioneers look to get back on the right track

By ROB NUNLEY Sports Editor for the Southern

Pioneer defender Ben Dunn (8) dives to attempt a stop while a group of his teammates fall into pursuit of White County’s Billy Baker Friday night.

The memory of last week’s disappointing loss, combined with the annual distraction of the Warren County Fair, will be weighing on the minds of the Pioneer football program this week as they prepare for Friday night’s region contest.

The (0-4) Pioneers play host to Cookeville Friday at Nunley Stadium, with both teams coming in after falling in non-region tilts last weekend. Warren County fell to White County 30-7, while the Cavaliers were upset by Lebanon, 17-14.

As if a losing streak which stretched to 33 games last week wasn’t enough, this week coach Chris Madewell’s players now also face the distraction of a fun-filled fair drawing their attention away from the gridiron.

“Ever since I’ve been in high school, the fair’s been a distraction for the football team,” Madewell said after Friday’s loss. “It’s hard on coaches during fair week.

“But we have to come out, and keep a positive attitude. We have to continue to work to get better, and that’s what I told the team (Friday) night. We can either continue taking steps backwards, or we can push off that backward step and move forward, continuing to get better.

“I told the seniors they’ve got six games left, and it’s up to them to step up. They’ve got to be leaders, and pick everybody else up through some good practices this week.”

This week’s biggest challenge, Madewell said, will be eliminating the mistakes that plagued the Pioneers during their loss to White County.

Six turnovers and numerous penalties stymied the Pioneer offense, which was held to just one touchdown, that coming late in the game against a field mainly manned by Warrior reserves.

“We’d move the ball downfield, then we just couldn’t get into the end zone,” Madewell said of last week’s game. “We’d either make a mistake, shooting ourselves in the foot with the blocking breaking down up front or penalties. We’ve got to cut those things out if we want to score.”

Despite holding White County to just eight first downs, compared to their own 12, the Pioneers’ giveaways led to 234 yards of Warrior offense. Three of the Warriors’ four touchdowns came on drives which began after a Pioneer turnover, while the fourth was set up by a big special teams play, as the opening kickoff of the second half was returned to the WCHS 4-yard line.

“It’s hard to win any game, no matter how good a team you are, when you have that many turnovers,” Madewell said. “And if you looked at their yardage, if we as a defense could stop their big plays, they don’t have much yardage at all. We’ve got to stop those big plays.”

Cookeville is no stranger to benefiting from the big play itself. Last week against Lebanon, Gus Paxton scored the Cavaliers’ first touchdown on a 31-yard run, setting the stage for a 111-yard rushing night.

Kickoff Friday is set for 7:30 p.m. at Nunley Stadium.