The WCMS Pioneer football team was fired up after moving to 5-0 in Coffee County.
Ben Matheney has spent weeks telling his Pioneers they can be dangerous. Coffee County found out exactly what he meant Tuesday.
Warren County scored four touchdowns in the first quarter, added two more before halftime and overwhelmed the Red Raiders 44-6 to improve to 5-0 this season. The Pioneers led 30-0 before the opening quarter was over and 44-0 at halftime, putting the running clock into effect for the entire second half.
"What I'm trying to get the team to understand is that they're dangerous," Matheney said. "They're dangerous when they're playing all together and they went out there and played like they were dangerous. They were certainly dangerous for Coffee County today."
The onslaught started with Dallas Gater making a perfect read in Warren County's option game.
Gater held the mesh on the sweep until the last possible second, pulled the ball and exploded through a giant hole created by the Pioneer front. With blockers working downfield, the WCMS quarterback raced 35 yards for the opening touchdown.
Even a penalty couldn't stop Warren County on the conversion. Backed up, Brody Chisam took the ball and dragged two defenders across the goal line to make it 8-0.
The Pioneer defense immediately got the ball back.
Coffee County tried a sweep on fourth-and-1, but Warren County swarmed the play and stuffed the Red Raiders at midfield. On the very next snap, Chisam ripped through the heart of the defense for 30 yards to move the Pioneers into the red zone.
Two plays later, Gabe Rowland took a sweep over the right edge, broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage and outran everybody else to the end zone. Gater found Chisam on the two-point play to make it 16-0 with 3:47 still remaining in the first quarter.
Warren County was just getting started.
A Coffee County fumble on the next series, followed by Mikhail Wilcher smashing a sweep deep in the backfield, quickly had the Red Raiders going the wrong direction. When Coffee County tried to punt its way out of trouble, Chisam came flying through to block the kick.
Chisam scooped up the loose ball at the Coffee County 20 and returned it to the 12.
Back on offense, Rowland rumbled his way down to the 2 before Wilcher finished the drive, walking into the end zone. The big Pioneer back then carried Red Raider defenders across the goal line on the conversion to make it 24-0 with 1:08 remaining in the first.
The defense didn't even wait for the quarter to end before creating another opportunity.
Following a squib kick that Coffee County recovered, Gater came flying downhill from his safety position and delivered a huge hit on Coffee County's first play. The ball popped loose and the Pioneers swarmed on it at the Red Raider 39.
Rowland ripped off 14 yards on Warren County's first snap after the Coffee County fumble before Bryson Carroll did the rest. Carroll flew off the left side, split the corner and safety and showed off his wheels on a 25-yard touchdown run.
It was 30-0 before the first quarter ended, one where Matheney saw exactly the mentality his staff has been trying to instill in the Pioneer defense.
"We set the tone on the first play and we keep going," Matheney said. "That's just kind of how this defense is. It doesn't matter the score or the time or anything, they're ready to go and take somebody's head off."
Coffee County finally managed to punt on its first possession of the second quarter, but the kick couldn't get the Red Raiders out of their own territory. Warren County took over at the Coffee County 31 and immediately showed it could do more than pound away on the ground.
Gater hit Memphis Sadlon over the middle for a quick gain, softening a defense that was gearing up to stop the run. Chisam made it pay on the next play.
The Pioneer playmaker sliced straight through the middle, made one defender miss and walked into the end zone on a 21-yard touchdown. Gater then hit Jay Hutchings on a slant for the two-point conversion, stretching the lead to 38-0 with 5:15 remaining before halftime.
And, like it had done the entire first half, Warren County's defense created one more short field before the break.
Coffee County went for it on fourth down from its own 46, but Bryson Anderson blew up the play in the backfield. Gater promptly ripped off 34 yards on the Pioneers' first snap, taking the ball down to the Red Raider 6.
On the next play, Gater kept the option going left and walked into the end zone for his second touchdown of the day, making it 44-0 with 1:52 left before halftime.
The Pioneers didn't need any more points.
With the running clock in effect throughout the second half, Coffee County eventually found the end zone in the fourth quarter to snap Warren County's shutout streak at 11 consecutive quarters. Though it was a bitter end of an otherwise dominant defensive day, it did little to change a game the Pioneers had decided long before halftime.
The performance also showed the kind of buy-in Matheney has been seeing away from game day. While many people enjoyed Labor Day off Monday, the Pioneers were on the practice field preparing for Coffee County.
"Some people had the day off. We didn't," Matheney said. "We were working yesterday morning and had a heck of a practice. That's just where the kids have bought in and they understand how good they can be and they want to put in the work."
Warren County has now opened the season with five straight victories, beating DeKalb County, Jasper, Bridgeforth, Lewisburg and Coffee County. The Pioneers have scored at least 30 points in every game and have outscored their opponents 188-34.
More importantly to Matheney, his players aren't satisfied with simply being undefeated.
"They're not content with just being 4-0 against some lesser competition," Matheney said. "They want to be better than everybody they step on the field against and they bought in. When you get a team bought in like that, I mean, the sky's the limit."
Warren County can make it 6-0 next Tuesday at home when it takes on EO Coffman at 6:30 p.m. It will also be eighth grade night. The Warren County Sports Authority will be live at Nunley Stadium to broadcast the game.
