Armchair Quarterback: Red-zone inefficiency costs WCHS

Hey, I didn’t see it coming either. I was like most people who used the faulty logic thinking if the Pioneers almost beat Lincoln County then they should mop up Sparta.

As we know now, this logic was nowhere near right, as what we had Friday night was apples to oranges. The scenario was actually discussed around the office this week prior to the game as a fellow member of the staff pointed out Sparta was bringing a big team to the table whereas Lincoln County was smaller with a fast team.

Admittedly, the fact they were hammered opening night 35-6 by Cookeville made some question if this really was an “up year” for the Warriors as we had been hearing. However, all it took was walking into the stadium to see these guys were a corn-fed bunch. Their running back, Dell Lewis, tips the scales at over 260 pounds. This guy is so big I wouldn’t want to even take a sucker shot on him, let alone meet him one-on-one in the open field. These kids were so big most of them probably kissed their wives and kids goodnight before the game.

Despite the size disadvantage, the Pioneers still had opportunities to get into the game as size wasn’t everything Friday night. Instead, it was the combination of the size disadvantage and big plays which proved the 17-point difference.

The tone was set on the first play from scrimmage when Sparta hit a 48-yard bomb on a pure go-route whereby the flanker ran past the secondary and caught what was not that pretty of a pass over the top. The Warriors scored there and then held the Pioneers to a field goal.

This was the reocurring theme. While the Pioneers did bog down offensively a few times, mainly due to penetration caused by the size disadvantage whereby the Warriors would clog up the line, the main problem was red-zone efficiency. The Pioneers had a chance to get it to 14-10 right before half but were intercepted in the red-zone. Sparta would capitalize before half and make it 20-3.

Big plays again bit the Pioneers when they drove the field to cut the lead in half in the first play of the third quarter but then Sparta immediately responded by returning the kickoff deep into Pioneer territory. In short, the Pioneers had trouble keeping any momentum.

Why? First, the big play never came for the Pioneers. Sparta repeatedly had big kick returns and a couple of long passes and even a couple of picks which fired up the crowd. Aside from one long pass and a Josh Paz scamper, there were no big momentum shifters for the Pioneers. Combine this with lining up opposite some Goliaths and you have a 34-17 game.

Now I’m not going to sugar-coat it for anyone. The next two games are against top 10-rated teams with Cookeville coming off a 34-14 spanking of Lebanon, the same Blue Devil team the Cavs put out of the playoffs last year. The next week we go against Tullahoma, who is ranked number five in 4A by Murphy Fair. Tullahoma nipped Manchester 16-14 with a field goal at the gun, but everyone knows the record books get thrown out when those cross-county rivals throw down. However, Manchester did play Cookeville a good game, falling 28-13 to the Cavs so Coffee County may be holding something this year too.

Regardless, it’s important the road crowd stay faithful as the Pioneers, I’m convinced, have a great shot at winning more games this year. Hey, Cookeville is one of those nothing to lose games while Tullahoma is a team they had on the ropes last year. Then they get to go to Crossville, which is still looking for its first win. The great up-side is the Sparta loss had zero impact on making the playoffs.