Heartbreak tonight
Brent Carden photos - Early celebrations turned into a heartbreaking night for the Pioners Friday.
It’s starting to feel like the Pioneer football season is unfolding like an Eagles greatest hits soundtrack. The problem for Warren County is the album is stuck on “Heartache Tonight.”
Livingston Academy handed the Pioneers another heartbreaking loss Friday night, rallying with 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to win 27-21 at Nunley Stadium. Franky Guerrero’s 3-yard run with 2.1 seconds left proved to be the difference as Warren County has now gone down on the final play and second-to-last snap in back-to-back weeks.
Guerrero and freshman Lucas Mansell were a wrecking-ball tandem for the Wildcats, who entered the fourth quarter trailing 21-7 before flipping the game completely. Jamison Kendall scored on a 5-yard run on the first play of the final period, Guerrero powered in from 3 yards to tie the game with 7:52 left and Livingston ultimately marched 76 yards over the final five minutes to steal the victory.
Guerrero, who finished with three touchdowns, was the logical choice when a facemask penalty, one of 14 assessed to the Pioneers Friday, gave the Wildcats a snap inside the 5 with eight seconds to play.
The penalty was another gut punch for a Warren County defense that appeared to have made the play it needed. Mansell was bottled up for a 5-yard loss, but a personal foul facemask moved Livingston half the distance to the goal and put the Wildcats in position to go for the win.
The Pioneers tried to stand up the bruising Guerrero at the line of scrimmage, but he wasn’t going to be stopped. His third touchdown of the night set off a huge celebration on the visitors sideline, one that continued after Warren County couldn't lateral its way down the field on the final kickoff.
The fourth-quarter flip erased what had been an impressive effort for the Pioneers and quarterback AJ Whitman through three quarters.
AJ Whitman celebrates while waltzing into the endzone in the first half Friday night.
Whitman racked up 202 yards rushing and two touchdowns, including a sensational 76-yard score just seconds after Guerrero tied the game with a 26-yard run of his own in the first half.
Warren County had opened the night looking like a team ready to put last week’s overtime loss at DeKalb County behind it.
Whitman finished off a 76-yard opening drive with a 7-yard touchdown run, but plenty of Pioneers had a hand in getting him there. Carter Lee moved the chains with a 12-yard catch on third down, Kayden Solomon flashed his speed on a 29-yard sweep and Dylan Aguilar followed by ripping off a 30-yard run to get Warren County inside the 10. Whitman did the rest, following the Pioneers’ big package into the end zone for the first touchdown at Nunley Stadium this season.
The Wildcats answered in the second quarter behind Guerrero.
Facing fourth-and-2 at the Warren County 26, Livingston put the 230-pound senior in the Wildcat formation and watched him burst through the Pioneer defense for a touchdown. It took Warren County only 21 seconds to respond.
Whitman took the next offensive snap, found a crease and was gone.
The junior quarterback exploded through the middle of the Livingston defense and raced untouched, putting the Pioneers back ahead 14-7 with 10:07 left in the half.
Warren County’s defense made sure the lead held going into halftime.
Canaan Curtis came up with one of the more unlikely interceptions a Pioneer will have this season when the interior lineman dropped into coverage and picked off Logan Sells late in the second quarter on a screen pass. The turnover gave Warren County another chance before halftime, though a holding penalty helped stall the ensuing possession.
The Pioneer defense struck again early in the third.
After Livingston barely converted a fourth down near midfield, a botched exchange between Sells and his back put the ball on the ground. Braxton Jordan, who was a force throughout the night along the Pioneer front, dove on it to give Warren County possession.
Warren County cashed in.
Aguilar started the ensuing drive with another big run and the Pioneers eventually turned to sophomore Cameron Redmore near the goal line. Redmore got downhill out of the power-I formation and scored from 4 yards out, giving Warren County a 21-7 advantage midway through the third quarter.
It looked like Warren County had taken control. Then Xavier Hancock changed everything.
Late in the third quarter, Hancock burst through the Pioneer protection as Gavin Looper attempted to punt. Hancock blocked the kick and Livingston recovered deep in Warren County territory.
The Wildcats got the quarter break to think over their goal-line offense and used it to their advantage. Guerrero, who had already burned Warren County out of the Wildcat formation once, took the snap and handed to Kendall. The sophomore slipped around the right side and into the end zone on the first play of the fourth quarter.
And once it was a one-possession game, Warren County couldn’t get its offense rolling again. Penalties were often the preventer for the Pioneers - Holds, blocks in the back and false starts erased gains, continually put Warren County behind the chains and helped Livingston keep getting the ball back.
The Wildcats took advantage.
Guerrero scored again from 3 yards with 7:52 remaining, tying the game at 21-21 and completing a 14-point swing in just over four minutes.
By the time the Wildcats got the ball for the final time, they needed to go 76 yards to win.
They did it methodically, often using a mixture of Mansell and Guerrero to batter the Pioneers in the middle while testing the edges with Kendall. Mansell finished with 20 carries for 90 yards, while Guerrero had 66 yards on only eight attempts.
Guerrero made perhaps his biggest run before the game-winner.
With Livingston facing a fourth down in the final minute, Guerrero was initially met near the line of scrimmage but bounced outside and rumbled 28 yards before Marek Sadlon finally dragged him down. The touchdown-saving tackle gave Warren County another chance to bow up with the Wildcats inside the 5.
The Pioneers appeared to do exactly that when they dropped Mansell for a loss. Then the flag came out.
The facemask gave Livingston one more opportunity and Guerrero finished the job.
It was a bitter ending for a Warren County defense that had done plenty right for much of the night. Curtis and Jordan forced turnovers, the Pioneers limited Sells to only seven rushing yards and Livingston had just seven points through three quarters.
It was also a night where the Warren County offense showed significant improvement. The Pioneers finished with 371 yards of offense, including 311 on the ground, and didn't turn the ball over after giving it away four times at DeKalb County.
But 14 penalties for more than 100 yards proved costly, especially as Warren County tried to protect its lead late.
Warren County will be back in search of its first win next week at home when it welcomes in Hunters Lane. The Warriors made their season debut Friday after forfeiting due to a lack of players in Week 1, falling 36-0 to McGavock.
Stats
WC Passing - AJ Whitman 9-for-13, 60 yards
WC rushing - Whitman 18 carries, 202 yards, 2 TD; Dylan Aguilar 7 carries, 70 yards; Kayden Solomon 1 carry, 29 yards; Cameron Redmore 2 carries, 10 yards, TD
WC receiving - Carter Lee 3 catches, 38 yards; Isaac Smith 4 catches, 12 yards; Marek Sadlon 1 catch, 7 yards; Dylan Aguilar 1 catch, 3 yards
WC kicking - Gavin Looper 0/1 FG (blocked), 3/3 PAT
WC returns - Carter Lee 3 KR, 42 yards
WC punting - Looper 3 punts, 35 yards
LA passing - Logan Sells 10-for-19, 96 yards, INT
LA rushing - Lucas Mansell 20 carries, 90 yards; Franky Guerrero 8 carries, 66 yards, 3 TD; Jamison Kendall 6 carries, 33 yards, TD; Logan Sells 2 carries, 7 yards; Huttson Houser 1 carry, 6 yards; JC Stults 3 carries, 3 yards
LA receiving - Jaxson Sims 4 catches, 31 yards; Baylor Barnes 1 catch, 27 yards; Isaiah Honeycutt 1 catch, 20 yards; Jamison Kendall 1 catch, 12 yards; Franky Guerrero 1 catch, 4 yards; JC Stults 2 catches, 2 yards
LA kicking - Coy Smith 3/3 PAT
LA returns - Xavier Hancock 1 KR, 23 yards; JC Stults 1 KR, 16 yards
LA punting - Coy Smith 1 punt, 42 yards
