Freshmen hit the road Thursday
The first official Warren County High School football game will kick off Thursday night, when the Pioneer freshmen hit the road to take on Coffee County.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Coffee County Middle School field, located just across I-24 on Highway 55 in Manchester.
The Pioneers and first-year head coach Jeff Watson are busily preparing for their season opener, and Watson said they are steadily making progress.
“We’re getting better,” he said at Monday’s practice session. “We’ve still got a long way to go before Thursday, but we’ve come a long way, too.”
Watson admitted he’s been unable to gather much information on the Red Raider freshmen, but said his familiarity with many of their players gives him an idea of what to expect Thursday night.
“We know they’re going to have some big guys, and a big running back,” he said. “They’ve got a lot of athletes, and they’ll be physical; they’ll come at you.
“But what we’ve got to concentrate on is doing what we can do best, and not making mistakes.
“Hopefully we can come out and take control right off the bat, and then see what happens.”
With only limited scrimmage play during the preseason against Grundy County and Siegel, as well as a freshmen-only scrimmage against Soddy-Daisy, Watson said his group of young Pioneers is chomping at the bit to hit the field for their first real competition of the season.
“I can’t wait, and I know they can’t, either,” he said. “We’re all drooling at the mouth, and ready to get out there and hit somebody.”