Lions Roar in second half, top Pioneers on Homecoming
Homecoming night at Nunley Stadium had all the ingredients for a Warren County celebration Friday and, for one quarter, it looked like the Pioneers might give them a victory to remember.
Instead, Warren County's promising start unraveled in a wave of turnovers as Cannon County scored 39 unanswered points and rolled to a 39-9 victory, spoiling Homecoming and handing the Pioneers their third straight loss.
The final score hardly reflected how the night began.
Warren County came out of fall break looking to rediscover the offensive success that had carried it to three consecutive wins earlier in the season. It took exactly one snap for junior quarterback AJ Whitman to provide a reminder of what the Pioneers could do.
Whitman found an opening on off the right side and exploded through the Cannon County defense, racing 69 yards before finally being chased down near the five-yard line. The run brought the Homecoming crowd to life and immediately put Warren County in position to score.
An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the play pushed the Pioneers backward, but Whitman helped move the offense back inside the five. Cannon County's defense stiffened near the goal line, forcing two incompletions and bringing Gavin Looper onto the field.
Looper's 21-yard field goal bounced off the upright and through, giving Warren County a 3-0 lead with 7:47 remaining in the opening quarter.
The Pioneer defense did its part to protect that advantage.
Cannon County went three-and-out on its opening possession, with Ethan Holder helping shut down the Lions' rushing attack. Later in the quarter, sophomore linebacker Cameron Redmore delivered one of Warren County's best defensive plays of the night.
Facing fourth-and-three, Cannon County tried to get Jayden Shannon moving toward the left side. Redmore timed his blitz perfectly, shooting through the middle and bringing Shannon down behind the line to force a turnover on downs.
Warren County carried its 3-0 advantage into the second quarter, but the Lions eventually found an answer.
Sophomore quarterback Corbin Garrett connected with Andrew Alexander for a 37-yard touchdown with 4:57 remaining before halftime, putting Cannon County ahead 7-3 as both teams headed to the locker room.
The second half, however, belonged entirely to Cannon County, kicked off by a 67-yard opening return by Alexander. Ninety seconds later, Garrett found Will Russell III for an eight-yard touchdown.
The Lions continued to build momentum offensively on its next possession, this time getting their hulking back rolling. Shannon, who had 344 yards in last year’s matchup, was shut down in the first half, but he started finding creases on the edges in the third quarter, including powering into the end zone from 10 yards out with 5:17 remaining, extending their lead to 20-3.
Then the turnovers started for Warren County.
Cannon County's Garyin Gibbs intercepted Whitman and raced 42 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter. In the opening moments of the fourth, Whitman was hit hard from the blind side and lost the football, allowing Bryson Head to scoop it up and return it 42 yards for another defensive score.
Garrett added an 11-yard touchdown run with 5:22 remaining to push the lead to 39-3.
Warren County finally gave the Homecoming crowd one more reason to cheer in the closing minute.
Jacob See found daylight on the right side and broke loose for a 65-yard touchdown run with 45 seconds remaining. The explosive play, one where See split two Lions in the secondary on his way to Pioneer Paydirt, turned out to be a bookend to Whitman’s opening run as it was the final play from scrimmage in the running-clock situation in the final minutes.
The Pioneers held the Lions to just 3.3 yards per rushing attempt and forced Cannon County into 15 penalties for 124 yards. But Warren County's five turnovers, including the two returned for touchdowns, proved too much to overcome.
Warren County fell to 3-5 with the loss, leaving the Pioneers searching for a way to finish the regular season on a stronger note after a difficult stretch against Stone Memorial, White County and Cannon County. The Pioneers will be looking for a bounce-back win next week when the team travels to Howard. Kickoff will be at 7 p.m.
Individual Game Stats
WC passing: AJ Whitman 9-of-23, 36 yards, 3 INT
WC rushing: AJ Whitman 21 carries, 103 yards; Jacob See 3 carries, 85 yards, TD; Christian Munoz 2 carries, 2 yards; Dylan Aguilar 2 carries, 0 yards
WC receiving: Carter Lee 2 catches, 17 yards; Marek Sadlon 4 catches, 11 yards; Wesley Romzek 1 catch, 8 yards; Colton Gater 1 catch, 5 yards; Christian Munoz 1 catch, minus-5 yards
WC kicking: Gavin Looper 1-of-2 FG, long 21 yards
WC punting: Oswaldo Duenas 2 punts, 66 yards; Gavin Looper 2 punts, 50 yards
WC returns: Carter Lee 4 kick returns, 57 yards; Jacob See 1 kick return, 20 yards; Marek Sadlon 1 punt return, 1 yard
CC passing: Corbin Garrett 15-of-24, 207 yards, 2 TD
CC rushing: Jayden Shannon 21 carries, 71 yards, TD; Corbin Garrett 4 carries, 16 yards, TD; Kale Sellars 1 carry, 1 yard
CC receiving: Andrew Alexander 7 catches, 116 yards, TD; Kale Sellars 4 catches, 43 yards; Jayden Shannon 2 catches, 29 yards; Will Russell III 2 catches, 19 yards, TD
CC kicking: Kaeden Linstead 3-of-5 PAT
CC punting: Kaeden Linstead 1 punt, 42 yards
CC returns: Andrew Alexander 2 kick returns, 88 yards
