Border battle tonight:Pioneers play host to DeKalb

By ROB NUNLEY / Sports Editor for the Southern Standard

A packed Nunley Stadium crowd cheers the Pioneers on to victory. WCHS fans are hoping for plenty more to cheer about tonight, when the Pioneers play host to DeKalb County. (Dale Stubblefield photos)

Warren County will look to accomplish something it hasn’t done in six years tonight, when its neighbors to the north visit Nunley Stadium.

The Pioneers can improve to 2-0 for the first time since the 1999 season, but to do so they’ll have to win over DeKalb County, who comes calling for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.

Coach Chris Madewell’s squad enters tonight’s game on the heels of last week’s 34-12 victory over Bradley Central, which snapped a 39-game losing streak. On the other sideline, the Tigers — who went 3-7 a year ago — will be opening their first season under new head coach Steve Trapp.

Trapp, a DCHS alum and former standout with the Tiger football program, was named head coach just before preseason practices began. He replaced Anthony Fuller, who was named head coach earlier this year but left the job for an assistant’s post with Cumberland County.

“It means a lot to me that I am the coach at DCHS,” Trapp recently told the Standard’s sister paper, the Smithville Review. “I realized teaching and coaching were my passions after getting involved with Junior Pro, and I feel the work ethic I put in on that level, and the support from the parents and the community, definitely helped me in getting the position I have now.”

The Trapp-led Tigers saw action last Friday night as part of the Lebanon Jamboree, taking on Gordonsville for two quarters and winning 12-7.

Quarterback Ryan Childers, who replaces three-year starter Hunter Patterson, was in on both Tiger touchdowns, completing a 29-yard pass to Josh Howe and returning an interception for his team’s other TD. Corey Cripps added 32 yards on nine touches to lead the ground game.