Stage set for season finale: Pioneers host Coffee County Thursday
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Coffee County comes to town Thursday night for the 2003 season finale, and the Pioneers — who will celebrate Senior Night at the game — will attempt to top a revamped Red Raider squad.
After winning just three games through their previous two seasons, coach Bill Price’s Raiders turned things around this season, and stand at 5-3 overall and 2-2 in Region 3-5A play heading into tonight’s contest.
The Red Raiders bounced back from a tough 46-0 loss at Lincoln County last week, when they downed Sweetwater 21-14 on the road.
Warren County got its look at Lincoln County a week ago, coming away on the short end of a 70-7 blowout.
“We’ve got to rebound somehow, and (Coffee County is) just as good an opponent as any to come back against,” Pioneer coach John Dryden said after last week’s loss. “We’ve got the opportunity to play somebody competitively, and that’s what we’ll try to do.”
Coffee County’s strength this season has been its ground game, which relies heavily on junior running back Jake Nunley. Nunley, a 5-foot-11, 185-pounder, has carried the ball 243 times through nine games for a whopping 1,834 yards and 18 touchdowns — an average of over 200 yards per game.
His most productive outing was against Murfreesboro Siegel in Week 1, when he ran the ball 32 times for 302 yards and five touchdowns. The Red Raiders’ loss to Lincoln County marked the only time this season Nunley failed to post at least one touchdown.
Defensively, Coffee County has allowed 26.8 points per game, including 36 by Wilson Central, which picked up its first win ever on Sept. 26 with a 36-21 victory over the then region-leading Raiders.
Warren County’s defense struggled against a tough ground game last week, allowing 281 yards to Lincoln County.
Kickoff for Thursday’s game at Nunley Stadium is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for Friday night, but moved up to Thursday to avoid conflicts with Halloween curfews.