WCHS freshmen ‘storm’ past Soddy Daisy
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The Pioneers scored just before the half against their guests from Soddy-Daisy, and made the touchdown stand tall as they shut out the Trojans for a 6-0 victory.
Misting rain throughout the contest made the pigskin hard to hold, as the Pioneers found out on their first drive, when they fumbled the ball away to the Trojans near midfield.
But a stifling defense, which made its presence known all night, forced the Trojans to go three-and-out on what would prove to be their only offensive possession of the first quarter.
Warren County turned the ball over on downs early in the second period, and Trojan fullback Eddie Richmond broke a long second-down run, only to lose the ball, which was recovered by the Pioneers’ Kalin Young.
The Pioneers took over at the Trojan 37-yard line, and put together a 12-play drive which featured a 9-yard run from quarterback Casey Dunn and a 7-yard rush from Morgan Wilcher.
A short gain from fullback Kyrie Harris gave WCHS first-and-goal from the 3-yard line, and Wilcher put up what would prove to be the winning points with a 1-yard plunge on third down.
Trojan QB Justin Holcomb completed a 17-yard pass to tailback Bubba Haney as the final seconds of the half ticked down, but was sacked on his next play by Shelton Brewer, Blake Gudger and Jessie Boyd as the Pioneers went into intermission holding a narrow lead.
The Trojans crossed into Pioneer territory on their first drive of the third quarter, but another big defensive play, in the form of a punishing sack from Scott Murphy, helped stall the drive and force another punt.
Warren County was unable to find the end zone, but did put together a 16-play drive that lasted to the midway point of the fourth quarter and was ended by a tough goal-line stand by the Soddy Daisy defensive unit.
The Trojans went 3-and-out yet again, however, and although WCHS was knocking on the door of the end zone, an illegal block penalty and a sack by Soddy’s Johnathan Gonzalez caused another Pioneer drive to come up empty.
With 38 seconds to play, Soddy moved out to its own 37-yard line on an unsportsmanlike conduct call, and quickly gained 20 more yards to move into WCHS territory. But a last-second pass from Holcomb was picked off by Zach West, sealing the Pioneer victory.
Wilcher finished with 92 hard-fought yards on 15 carries to lead the WCHS offensive attack, while Dunn had 18 touches for 46 yards and Harris had 43 on 12 carries.