WCMS stomps Saints in season opener
Brent Carden photo
The pieces came together quickly for the WCMS Pioneers.
After spending the preseason moving players around and trying to find the right combinations on both sides of the ball, Warren County got as an encouraging of a first look as coach Ben Matheney could have hoped for Thursday night. The Pioneers rolled past border rival DeKalb County 44-14 in Smithville, scoring on six of their first seven possessions to dominate the border battle.
For Matheney, the result was impressive, but the way his team got there may have been even more important.
"It just shows the team is locked in and trusting what we are asking of them," Matheney said. "They also are seeing how the pieces come together on both sides of the ball, so they better understand their role on the field. They are confident, so they play that way."
That confidence was evident immediately.
Warren County forced three-and-outs on DeKalb's first two possessions and quickly built an 8-0 advantage behind a 51-yard touchdown run from QB Dallas Gater. Praised throughout the offseason for his ability to make the right reads in the Pioneer offensive attack, Gater showed he could string out the defense with perfection, holding a ball on the read option until the last second until he saw a gap and pulled.
Once in the open field, no Saint was going to run down the speedy signal caller. Bryson Carroll added the 2-point conversion, starting a night where he would be vising paydirt plenty.
After the teams swapped fumbles on back-to-back plays following a second Saints punt, Carroll delivered again for the Pioneers. He went over left edge on a sweep, only to make a quick cutback and find a wide-open hole in the Saints defense. From there, Carroll ran 42 yards for the team’s second score. A second 2-point conversion run - this time from Gabe Rowland - made it 16-0, but it was just the start of the blowout.
The Pioneers never slowed down from there.
Mikhail Wilcher scored twice on the ground in the first half, bruising his way to the goal line as part of a red-zone run game the Saints had no chance of stopping. When he needed a break, the Pioneers could go deep into the depth chart for elusive runners, like Brody Chisam capping one score with an easy 2-point conversion where he took an inside hand-off and walked through the defense.
"Offensively, I was very happy with the run game," Matheney said. "Some years it takes a couple games for things to really click and I thought we were really rolling last night. We had several different plays have long runs and find the end zone. This is by far the most depth we've had in the backfield."
DeKalb County did break up the shutout before halftime to cut into the 30-0 deficit, but Warren County was more than ready to respond.
Gater operated the two-minute offense with efficiency, hitting Chisam for a huge gain on a corner route where the Saints couldn’t contain three levels of receivers on a flood concept. With time winding down, Gater took matters into his own hands on a third-and-short, scrambling out of the pocket and tip-toeing down the sideline and past the pylon with 0.6 seconds left to put the Pioneers up 36-6 going into the break.
Rowland wrapped up the Pioneer scoring on the first drive of the second half, busting loose on a 16-yard run to cap a long drive for the Pioneers. Gater powered in on the 2-point play, trucking a DeKalb County defender at the goal line as the Pioneers put a stamp on a physically dominating opening night.
And while Wilcher, Carroll and Rowland all made plays out of the backfield and Gater provided another threat with his legs, Matheney knows much of their success started up front.
"The line dominated and kept DeKalb from getting the penetration they wanted," Matheney said.
The defense provided plenty to build on as well. Colton Todd intercepted a pass, Carroll recovered a fumble and Warren County forced a turnover on downs while keeping DeKalb from establishing much offensively until late in the first half.
"Defensively we were aggressive and were starting to gang tackle more as the game progressed," Matheney said.
Even special teams earned praise. For years, Warren County has opted to roll the dice on short kickoffs that turn into a scramble drill, but Matheney was encouraged by what he saw when the Pioneers tested their coverage unit Thursday.
"I was really pleased with our special teams," Matheney said. "We don't typically kick it deep, but the boys did a great job of covering last night."
Thursday also came with the sweet satisfaction of getting some revenge. The Saints had flipped the script the last few years in the rivalry, but Warren County had an answer on opening night this year.
"DeKalb dominated the last time we played, so it was nice to get the check in the win column and let them know what to expect in the future. I don’t see that opening game for high school changing anytime soon," Matheney said.
The Pioneers will get their next test Thursday, Aug. 13 when they travel to Jasper. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
