Shot down at Sparta:Pioneers fall on road to Warriors
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With the loss, the Pioneers fell to an even 2-2 on the season, while Sparta improved to 2-1.
Beefy running back Dell Lewis was virtually a one-man army for the Warrior offense, finishing with 170 total yards, including a 75-yard second-quarter touchdown reception and three rushing TDs.
J.J. Taylor, who scored on a 37-yard touchdown on the first play of the 2004 meeting between the neighboring rivals, came through with a big opening play again in this year’s contest. Taylor got past defender Nick Cantrell to haul in a Kyle Hicks pass, gaining 48 yards on the effort, and three plays later was on the receiving end of an 11-yard strike which put Sparta on the scoreboard just two minutes into the contest.
Warren County also struck for points on its opening drive, but had to settle for a Tony Garibaldi field goal from 29 yards out after a Josh Paz pass attempt to Jon Creek was broken up in the end zone on third-and-long.
Another big play, this time in the form of a 34-yard punt return by Chris Boruff which was boosted by a Pioneer personal foul, set up White County’s next TD.
Taking over at the Warren County 20 in the closing seconds of the first quarter, the Warriors bulled their way to the end zone, with Lewis scoring on a 6-yard run.
Daniel Martin intercepted a Paz pass on fourth-and-3 to end the next Pioneer drive, returning the pick 20 yards. A pair of penalties moved White County back to its own 25-yard line, but Hicks found Lewis over the middle, and the 6-foot-2, 285-pounder rambled 75 yards to the goal line, shrugging off Pioneer defenders throughout the entire length of the field.
The TD gave White County a 20-3 halftime lead, but the Pioneers came out of the locker room with renewed momentum, scoring on their opening series of the third quarter when Paz found Ben Dunn for a 40-yard TD pass.
But once again, the big play reared its ugly head.
Taylor fielded the ensuing kickoff at the 2-yard line, and streaked 69 yards to set his team up just 29 yards from the goal line. Six plays later, Lewis scored his third TD, going in from the 5, and Ryan Rogers’ extra point made it a 27-10 Warrior lead.
Mandell Collum sacked Paz on fourth-and-2 to end Warren County’s next possession, and — unfortunately — White County used another big play to its advantage. Lewis went 24 yards up the middle to convert a big third-down situation, and then plunged in on first-and-goal from the 2-yard line for the final Warrior points of the game.
Warren County added a late TD, with Paz finding a leaping Adam Wood in the back of the end zone, and although the ensuing onside kick was recovered by the Warriors, they fumbled the ball back to the Pioneers with 2-1/2 minutes left in the game.
Warren County went to the air, and got as close as the 14-yard line, where they looked to have tacked on another TD. But Ben Dunn, who hauled in the catch, was called for offensive pass interference, then was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct on the next play, pushing the Pioneers back to the Warrior 44-yard line. Paz’s next pass attempt was out of Wood’s reach, and on fourth-and-40 he was forced to scramble, gaining only three yards before being forced out-of-bounds and giving the ball back to Sparta. Backup QB Kyle Delaney took three knees to run out the final 1:16, sealing the Warrior victory.
Paz finished with 226 of the Pioneers’ 293 total offensive yards, rushing for 69 on 14 carries and passing for 157 on a 13-of-31 completion percentage. Jevon Ramsey had 17 carries for 44 yards.
Zach Buckner added 50 yards on seven carries for White County, while Hicks completed four of his nine passes for 140 yards, while being intercepted once by Ethan Womack.
The Warriors were flagged 14 times for a whopping 119 yards, while two starting players — including Taylor — were ejected for multiple personal fouls. Warren County was penalized 11 times for 75 yards.
The Pioneers return to Region 3-5A action Friday night, with a road trip to Cookeville.
Statistics
Warriors 34, Pioneers 17
Warren 3 0 7 7 — 17
White 7 13 14 0 — 34
First Quarter
White — J.J. Taylor 11 pass from Kyle Hicks (Ryan Rogers kick), 9:55.
Warren — Tony Garibaldi 29 field goal, 4:09.
Second Quarter
White — Dell Lewis 6 run (Rogers kick), 10:38.
White — Lewis 75 pass from Hicks (kick failed), 4:42.
Third Quarter
Warren — Ben Dunn 40 pass from Josh Paz (Garibaldi kick), 9:16.
White — Lewis 5 run (Rogers kick), 6:34.
White — Lewis 2 run (Rogers kick), 1:27.
Fourth Quarter
Warren — Adam Wood 10 pass from Paz (Garibaldi kick), 3:47.
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Team Statistics
Warren White
First Downs 15 8
Rushes-Yds 38-136 30-157
Passing Yds 157 140
Return Yds 7 63
C-A-I 13-31-2 4-9-1
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-1
Punts-Avg. 4-34.7 3-25.6
Pen.-Yds 11-75 14-119
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Individual Statistics
Warren County Rushing: Josh Paz 14-69, Jevon Ramsey 17-44, Mikey Perkins 4-19, Nick Cantrell 1-3, Brandon Rich 1-2, Evan Moran 1-(minus 1).
White County Rushing: Dell Lewis 12-95, Zach Buckner 7-50, James Simpson 4-12, Kyle Hicks 1-4, Josh Brown 1-2, Aaron Brown 1-2, Mandell Collum 1-(minus 1), Kyle Delaney 2-(minus 7).
Warren County Passing: Josh Paz 13-31-2 157.
White County Passing: Kyle Hicks 4-9-1 140.
Warren County Receiving: Ben Dunn 2-58, Jon Creek 3-31, Nick Cantrell 3-28, Ethan Womack 2-20, Adam Wood 2-17, Evan Moran 1-3.
White County Receiving: J.J. Taylor 3-65, Lewis 1-75.