Robservations: WCHS ready for first true test of season
Exciting, isn’t it?
Sporting a 2-0 record, continuing the new tradition of “Red Friday,” and watching busses full of fans making road trips like some kind of “Hoosiers”-inspired caravan will certainly get you fired up.
I’ll admit, the guy whose grinning visage you see at the top of these few paragraphs is certainly excited about the sudden turnaround of the Pioneer football program. Because, as I remarked to a buddy earlier this week, “if you think these last two games were fun, you should have seen them after watching the previous 39.”
But let’s take a minute here to call a spade a spade, and a stud a stud.
Lincoln County Football is a “stud” program. It’s made up of them, and it produces them. Bradley Central and DeKalb County, bless their hearts, are on the opposite end of the spectrum.
That’s why tonight’s game is so important, win or lose, for the Pioneers.
Todd Willmore summed it up perfectly after last week’s win, when he was discussing Warren County’s goals for the first few weeks of the football season.
Against Bradley, he noted, the goal was simple — win, and end the state’s longest active losing streak. In the second game, the goal changed slightly — avoid overconfidence, and win a game because you are expected to win it.
As the commander-in-chief would say, “Mission Accomplished.” But, in a situation that subtly echoes the just-mentioned scene, there is a lot more to this “mission” than just two games.
The real mission is not just notching two, or three or four, victories and calling it a successful year.
Granted, three or four victories will certainly be somewhat successful. This is, after all, Warren County football — where wins over the past decade have been harder to come by than a cheap tank of gas.
But it’s also the goal of every high school team, even struggling high school teams, to compete in their respective leagues. And that’s where the three-time state champion Falcons come in.
Beating Lincoln County is not out of the question. It’s a long shot, to be realistic, but as it’s so often been said lately, this isn’t the Pioneer football team of old.
Want to know just how far the attitudes have turned around this season on Pioneer Lane? Look no further than the athletic trainer’s office.
For the past few seasons, injuries have sprung up like weeds in the days prior to the LCHS game. Faced with the possibility of being battered by Lincoln’s bruising band of bohemoths, standing on the sidelines with a strained hamstring or bum ankle was a tasty alternative.
But this week, not only are guys not finding ways to head to the training room, they’re actually coming back from injuries in time to be in on the action.
And that’s a more important fact than ever now that the Pioneers are into their region schedule. Because a couple of region victories can land you in the playoffs, and make the program’s turnaround even more exciting than it already has been.
The mission continues tonight, and to borrow a line from that old TV show, the Pioneers gladly accept it.