Carter Lee will be hoping to have another big night against Howard tonight in Chattanooga.
A year ago, Warren County entered its matchup with Howard riding a three-game losing streak and desperately needing a victory. The Pioneers responded with a 50-0 blowout that sparked a three-game winning streak to close the season.
Coach Eric Belew would love to see history repeat itself Friday night.
Warren County (3-5) will travel to Chattanooga to face Howard (3-5) at Reggie White Field, with kickoff scheduled for 6 p.m. Central. The Pioneers are looking to snap another three-game skid after consecutive losses to Stone Memorial, White County and Cannon County.
“I know we've had three really frustrating weeks, but nobody's more upset about it than the people in the program,” said Belew. “We're doing whatever we can. And just right now the mindset is we're gonna grab a shovel and we're gonna just go to work.”
Last year's meeting was completely one-sided. Warren County held Howard to just 25 yards of total offense, including minus-8 rushing yards, while forcing six turnovers. The Pioneers piled up 415 yards, including 243 on the ground, and held the Tigers to only three first downs.
The victory started a late-season surge that eventually saw Warren County finish 6-5 in Belew's first season. With Howard, the regular-season finale next week against Glencliff and the Nov. 5 Nurseryman's Bowl against LaVergne remaining, the Pioneers have another opportunity to finish above .500.
Getting there will require correcting the mistakes that have plagued Warren County recently.
The Pioneers led Cannon County 3-0 after one quarter last Friday and trailed just 7-3 at halftime before five turnovers helped the Lions pull away for a 39-9 Homecoming victory.
“I thought the defensive line played really well up front for a large portion of the game,” said Belew. “I think ultimately that we just got out-executed, got out-coached. And that starts with me.”
Howard has experienced its own struggles this season, but the Tigers have shown improvement with victories over Brainerd, Cumberland County and Sale Creek. Their offense has struggled with consistency, including four shutouts, but Belew sees a more experienced team than the one Warren County dominated last fall.
“Their two tackles, just like last year, are massive,” said Belew. “They've got a quarterback that can run, they got some guys that can get behind you. So that's kind of been our Achilles heel the last couple weeks.”
Howard also presents an unusual defensive challenge. The Tigers use shifting defensive fronts that can create confusion for offensive linemen and frequently rely on man-to-man coverage.
“We've kind of had to make some tweaks,” said Belew. “That's gonna be the big one and then they run a lot of man. So they're gonna match you person for person and you've got to be able to win those one-on-one matchups.”
Warren County will continue relying on junior quarterback AJ Whitman, who rushed for 103 yards against Cannon County and has surpassed 1,100 yards on the season. Younger players could also see expanded roles, especially after Jacob See broke a 65-yard touchdown run last week.
“We've got some guys that are banged up,” said Belew. “Some young guys are going to have to step up. So by default, some of these guys are going to have to be ready to go.”
For Belew, the formula for another late-season turnaround starts with fundamentals rather than worrying about the final score.
“Owning the line of scrimmage, taking care of the football, and winning the big play battle,” said Belew. “We've got to win all three of those phases. And if we do those, I feel good about anybody we've got on our schedule.”
