WCMS holds three-way scrimmage: Pioneers take on Moore County, Central Middle

By ROB NUNLEY / Sports Editor for the Southern Standard (McMinnville, Tenn.)

Warren County Middle School running back Justin Bouldin gets brought down by a pair of Central Middle School defenders during the three-team scrimmage held Friday afternoon at WCMS. (Dale Stubblefield photo)

Warren County Middle School’s football players saw their first live competition of the preseason Friday evening, as they hosted a three-way scrimmage with Moore County and Murfreesboro’s Central Middle School.

At the end of the day’s events, new Pioneer head coach Jeff Watson said while he was pleased with some of the things he saw from his team, he realizes there is a lot of work to be done between now and the Pioneers’ Aug. 27 season opener.

“We’ve got a long way to go,” Watson said. “We had a few mistakes in pass coverage today, and a few missed tackles, plus we’ve still got more of our offense to put in.

“Overall I’m proud of the kids, though. I saw a lot of people getting after the ball, which is what you want to see, and we can take what we saw today and learn something from it. We’ve got another scrimmage on Friday, and I expect us to be much better.”

The Pioneer defensive unit was the first group to see action, going against Moore County’s offense and surrendering a touchdown on a long run by the Raider quarterback.

The offense hit the field next, going up against Central Middle, which benefited from a hefty size advantage and was able to break through the WCMS offensive line for a pair of big stops.

Against Moore County the Pioneers moved the ball more productively, with Justin Bouldin coming through with several positive carries out of the backfield. But once again the Pioneers were kept out of the end zone, as the scrimmage limited each offense to 10 plays from scrimmage.

Central Middle had a pair of touchdowns called back on penalties against the Pioneer ‘D,’ but eventually punched into the end zone on their 10th play.

Warren County finally found the end zone against Central’s defense late in the day, as Saul Simpson scored on a short run.

WCMS will host Walter J. Baird Friday at 3:30 p.m. for its second scrimmage of the preseason. The Pioneers begin their regular season Aug. 27 at home against DeKalb County.