WC freshmen shut down Coffee County in opener
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But discipline on the field aside, Elrod and the Nunley Stadium fans were quick to forgive one moment of sidelines abandon, when a small group of Pioneers gave Elrod a celebratory ice-water dousing.
“It feels great,” a still-dripping Elrod said of Thursday’s 13-0 victory, his first ever as a head coach. “We’ve been preaching to these guys how they’ve got to be disciplined, and they were. They hung on to the ball — we only had two turnovers — and we only had two penalties all night — one of which was my fault. That’s how we’re going to have to play this year to be successful.”
Starting at their own 45-yard line after fielding a short kick, the Pioneers used a healthy dose of tailback Morgan Wilcher to march downfield, and converted a fourth-and-7 situation with a pass from Casey Dunn to David DeLane. But the play was negated by a penalty flag, as DeLane wasn’t wearing the correct uniform number to be a receiver.
Turning the ball over on downs, WCHS held Coffee County at bay for the remainder of the first quarter, doing their best to stop powerful fullback Brian Wilder and eventually getting the ball back when Scott Murphy dropped the Red Raider quarterback for a loss on fourth-and-7.
Back-to-back big plays on the ensuing Pioneer possession led to the first WCHS points of the year. Zach West scampered 24 yards on a first-down play from midfield, and Wilcher followed by bursting through the left side of the line and rumbling 26 yards to paydirt.
Wilcher, a standout back for the middle school squad a year ago, finished with 78 yards on 15 touches.
“Morgan ran the ball well for us,” Elrod said. “He carried our offense, running over people and getting positive yardage even when the play would break down a little bit.
“We’ve got a lot of other people we can go with, too. For instance we got a big play out of our H-back, Zach West, and that was good to see that he’ll be able to carry the ball for us. But Morgan’s our main go-to guy.”
Coffee County never got closer than the Pioneer 30-yard line for the remainder of the game, and WCHS struck for its second TD late in the third quarter, when Dunn found a wide-open Carlzell Robinson on the left sideline for what would become a 45-yard touchdown pass. Scott Murphy’s extra point accounted for the final margin of victory.
Even with the victory, the Pioneers’ head coach noted there is room for improvement by his team, particularly regarding conditioning.
“We’re not really in shape like I thought we’d be,” he said. “When it got late in the game we got wore out, and looked like we were wanting a break out there. So we’ve got to get in better shape if we want to get through this season.”
In addition to Wilcher’s big night, WCHS got 52 yards on nine carries from Dunn, including a 23-yard fourth-quarter run. Fullback Kyrie Harris added 25 yards on eight touches, while West had two carries for 22 yards. The TD pass to Robinson was Dunn’s only completion on three attempts. He threw one interception.
Wilder was the leading rusher for the Red Raiders, racking up 91 yards on a whopping 24 carries.
The Pioneers return to action Monday, Aug. 29, at home against Soddy Daisy.