WCMS wins double OT thriller

By ROB NUNLEY Sports Editor for the Southern Standard

Shelbyville’s Harris Middle School got off to a quick start, but the Warren County Middle School Pioneers came out on top of a long night Thursday.

Casey Dunn scored a pair of overtime touchdowns, including the game-winner, as the Pioneers improved to 3-0 with a 26-20 double-overtime win.

The Pioneers’ opening kickoff went out of bounds, giving Harris the ball at their own 35-yard line, and a 65-yard pass on Shelbyville’s opening play gave the home team a quick 8-0 lead.

Warren County began its next drive from its own 38, and Jay Hutchings capped a seven-play drive with a touchdown run from the 28-yard line. The conversion failed, but WCMS stopped Shelbyville’s next drive and blocked a punt, taking over on the 22-yard line. Five plays later Morgan Wilcher powered his way in from the 6, and Sawyer Fults found Carzell Washington for the 2-point conversion, giving WCMS a 14-8 lead.

Shelbyville scored on its opening drive of the second half, but failed on its conversion attempt, tying the game at 14-14. Harris drove down inside the Pioneer 10-yard line late in the fourth quarter, but the WCMS defense held tough, forcing a fourth-and-8 situation.

Shelbyville attempted a game-winning field goal, but the effort sailed wide left, sending the game into overtime.

Under overtime rules, each team gets the ball at the 10-yard line, and has four plays to either score a TD or kick a field goal. After the first team’s possession, the other squad has a chance to match or out-score their opponent.

WCMS took the ball first, and Dunn — who had taken over at quarterback — called his own number and scored on a second-down sweep to the right. The kick failed, and WCMS held a 20-14 lead.

Harris also scored a TD in the first overtime, and the Pioneers’ stopped their potential game-winning conversion attempt, forcing a second set of possessions.

Shelbyville fell short in the second OT, however, as the Pioneers broke up a third-down pass and their fourth-down attempt was off the mark.

The Pioneers took over, and a five-yard Dunn sneak followed by a two-yard Wilcher run off tackle set the stage for Dunn’s three-yard game-winning touchdown.

The Pioneers will look to stay perfect Tuesday night, when they travel to face Tullahoma Middle School.