Pioneers’ prep for Cavs off to an early start
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Falling 34-17 on the road at White County last Friday, Warren County shook up its normal routine somewhat, electing to come in on Sunday afternoon to review film and discover what might have gone wrong with its offensive production.
“We just didn’t execute,” said offensive coordinator Donnie Harris, whose team faces (3-1) Cookeville on the road this Friday. “We had some chances to make plays, but we just didn’t do it.”
Analyzing the numbers from the White County loss, one sees a close matchup — with the exception of the final score. Warren County had 393 total yards, while the Warriors had 297 — including 170 from Dell Lewis.
But looking at the game drive-by-drive, it’s easy to see how the contest ended at its final result.
While the Warriors put touchdowns on the board to wrap up three of their first four offensive series, and later found the end zone on their first two third-quarter drives, the Pioneers came away scoreless on eight of their 11 offensive possessions.
Settling for a field goal after stalling in the Warrior “red zone,” the Pioneers either had to punt or turned the ball over on their next five first-half possessions.
They righted their offensive ship to begin the third quarter, completing a 75-yard drive with a 40-yard TD pass from Josh Paz to Ben Dunn. But they missed out on legitimate scoring chances on three of their final four drives.
Paz was tackled for a loss on fouth-and-2 to end the next possession (setting Sparta up near midfield for its own five-play scoring drive), and the next Pioneer series was halted via a Warrior interception.
Given a chance to pull within seven late in the game, the Pioneers seeming came through with a touchdown pass, but Dun was called for offensive interference, costing Warren County a down and 15 yards. On the next play from scrimmage, Dunn was hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, backing his squad up 15 more yards.
A third-down pass attempt from Paz — who completed just 13 of 31 attempts — went well over Adam Wood’s reach, and facing fourth-and-40 the Pioneer QB was flushed from the pocket and gained just three yards, giving the ball back to Sparta for good.
With so many missed offensive opportunities, WCHS coaches opted to schedule the early film session and get a jump on their preparations for this week’s game.
“We’re just trying to go back out this week, get plenty of reps in, and correct the mistakes we saw on the film,” Harris said. “That’s why we spent a lot of time on film on Sunday, so we could make sure everybody understands where we’re at and what we need to be doing.
“We can get there, we’re just not quite there yet.”
Kickoff for Friday’s game in Cookeville is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.