WCMS moves to 4-0 with second straight shutout
The Pioneers dominated the action - and the scoreboard - in Lewisburg Tuesday night.
Brody Chisam rolled off the bus ready to run.
And the Pioneers made sure the bus barely had time to cool off before bringing them back to town still unbeaten.
Warren County, once it arrived in Lewisburg, made quick work of the Tigers, winning 32-0 to improve to 4-0 this season. It took a long time to get there and the game even had to kick off later than scheduled, but once the ball got in the air, Chisam set the tone and the Pioneers rolled to their second straight shutout.
Transportation issues caused Warren County to arrive late in Lewisburg, leaving the Pioneers with essentially no time for their normal pregame routine. Players came off the bus, quickly got stretched and prepared to play.
Then Chisam took the opening kickoff 90 yards to the house.
"The kickoff return was huge," coach Ben Matheney said. "We had issues just getting on the field and to start the game with essentially no warmup was big. We said great teams overcome adversity and Brody did that from the jump."
Chisam's opening statement was only the beginning.
Dallas Gater added another big play on Warren County's next scoring drive. Bringing a man in motion, Gater faked the jet sweep to the left, kept the ball and ran through an arm tackle on the edge. Once Gater turned upfield, he hit another gear, splitting two Lewisburg defensive backs on his way to a 41-yard touchdown.
Mikhail Wilcher powered in the two-point conversion, stretching the advantage to 16-0 with 4:53 remaining in the first quarter.
It was a dominant opening period from a Pioneer team that hadn't played in two weeks following the postponement of its matchup with Tullahoma.
Warren County's defense made sure Lewisburg never found an answer.
Jay Hutchings came up with an interception in the second quarter, dropping into coverage and ending a Tiger drive on fourth down. The Pioneers continued creating pressure up front while swarming to the football behind it, a formula that has now produced back-to-back shutouts.
"The defense starts with the D-line and they were dominant tonight," Matheney said. "Their play allows everyone else to play a little freer and fly to the football. When Coach Damon dials up the pressure, it just builds confidence when it's working as well as it did tonight."
The Pioneers have now gone eight straight quarters without allowing a point after shutting out Bridgeforth 38-0 in their previous game.
Gabe Rowland made sure Warren County added to its advantage before halftime.
Gater brought a man in motion again, but this time gave the ball to Rowland on the sweep. The talented running back found plenty of room off the right edge, tiptoed along the sideline and sidestepped a Lewisburg defender before making a house call from 30 yards out.
Warren County added the two-point conversion to take a commanding 24-0 lead into halftime.
The Pioneers weren't quite as crisp offensively after the break, but their bruising ground game eventually produced another big play.
Wilcher set up Warren County's final touchdown drive by showing why he's become such a physical presence in the Pioneer backfield. The big back burst through the line at the Warren County 28, shrugged off three would-be tacklers and started churning his way downfield.
Lewisburg finally managed to trip Wilcher up from behind at the Tiger 30, ending a 42-yard gallop that put the Pioneers in position to strike again.
Bryson Carroll took care of the rest.
Carroll burst through the middle and broke toward the left side with nobody within 15 yards of him, leaving the Lewisburg defense behind as Warren County finished off its scoring and pushed the lead to 32-0.
The Pioneer defense handled the rest, completing its second straight shutout and keeping Warren County's perfect start intact.
Matheney was pleased with the result, though the unexpected layoff showed at times when the Pioneers had the ball.
"I do feel like there were times tonight you could tell offensively we hadn't been in a game situation in two weeks," Matheney said. "We did really well running the ball at times, but I didn't feel like we found a great rhythm like we should have."
That's a pretty high standard for an offense that still produced four touchdowns and several explosive runs while never being threatened on the scoreboard.
"It's hard to be upset with 32-0, but I do feel like we didn't consistently execute at the high level we are capable of," Matheney said. "We will build on the good and correct the bad as we head to the day game against Coffee."
Warren County will take a 4-0 record into its matchup with Coffee County next Tuesday, Sept. 8 as the Pioneers look to continue their unbeaten start. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m.
