The White County Warriors improved to 6-1 on the season with a shutout win over the Warren County Pioneers Friday night. The win came despite a rocky first quarter filled with penalties and missed opportunities, as the Warriors settled in and established a dominant game plan after the initial ten minutes of play.
Warren County had the ball first, and the Warrior defense forced the Pioneers to punt from their own five-yard line. Cole Sims was back to receive at midfield, but the Warrior ball carrier muffed the punt. After a long discussion among the officials, the ball was awarded to Warren County at Warrior 45.
Once again, the White County defense held strong, and after Carter Rich sacked Warren County quarterback Brady Swallows on a third and eight, the Pioneers were again faced with a fourth and long. A fake punt didn’t fool the Warriors and Mark Spedding hit the ball carrier at the line of scrimmage to give the ball back to Tucker Pinion and the White County offense.
The Warriors started at midfield for their first offensive series of the night where Pinion’s cadence drew the Pioneers offsides giving the Warriors a free five yards. A holding call and a tackle for a loss set up a third and twenty-two. Pinion tried to get it all back with one pass, but Noah Skeith couldn’t get to the ball, forcing White County to punt.
After picking up their first first-down of the game on the next series, the Pioneers had some confusion on offense that resulted in a fumble by Swallows. Eli Sparkman recovered for White County, and the Warrior offense returned to the field.
A four-yard run by Cole Sims followed by a second run that resulted in a loss set the Warriors up with a third down and seven at the eleven-yard line. Quarterback Tucker Pinion faked the handoff, rolled out white, and tossed an easy pass to a wide-open Bryson Hogg in the end zone to put White County on the board. A successful extra point attempt by kicker Noah Skeith and the Warriors led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter.
After forcing Warren County to punt the ball away on their next possession, White County had the ball at their own 15-yard line, needing 85 yards to go for another score. On first down, Sims, who had struggled to find running room in the first quarter, broke away for a 15-yard run, giving the Warriors a new set of downs. Three more runs by Sims and a late hit penalty by the Pioneers and White County had moved 75 yards to set up a first and goal at the 10-yard line.
JoJo Dowell went 8 yards, dragging several defenders with him. On second and goal from the two, it was Dowell who got the call again and he weaved his way from the backfield, through the line and into the endzone. However, Skeith’s extra point attempt was blocked.
The White County defense was solid and once again forced a Pioneer punt without letting Warren County move the chains even once. A high punt resulted in a Warrior bounce and White County took over on their own 43-yard line.
A screen pass to Cole Sims resulted in plenty of yards after catch for the Warriors’ running back and White County was set up at the Pioneer 45. Another Sims run followed by a pass to rookie Tristan Cavanah and the Warriors moved the chains. Tucker Pinion was under pressure on the next play, but escaped a pile in the backfield, faked a pass, and turned the loss into a short gain. With 45 seconds left before halftime, Pinion hit Cavanah who fought through pass interference and went up over a Pioneer defender. This time, the extra point was perfect, and after Eli Smith grabbed his fourth interception of the season, the Warriors took a 20-0 lead into halftime.
The Warriors would score twice more in the second half adding one touchdown in each of the remaining quarters.
White County’s first scoring drive came on a drive that started on their own twelve-yard line. It looked as though the Warriors were going to get stuck near their own red zone, but then Pinion hit Sims on a broken play flip pass to move White County out to the 37. The next play had Pinion keeping the ball himself and moving ten yards deep into Pioneer territory. Sims kept the big yardage plays coming, getting another first down with a 16-yard run on the next play. After a couple of short yardage runs, Pinion hit Eli Smith in the endzone. The Skeith extra point was good, and the Warriors took a 27-0 lead into the final quarter.
After a fourth down pass attempt from Brady was nearly picked off but fell to the ground, White County’s offense took over with just a minute left in the third quarter. As the fourth quarter began, the Warriors were near midfield grounding out yards a few at a time before Pinion scrambled down field to move the chains. Sims followed Pinion’s run with a pair of five-yard forward pushes of his own to give the Warriors another first down at the fifteen-yard line. A short quick pass to his left from Pinion and Eli Smith added that yards-after-catch that resulted in another White County score. Skeith’s kick was good despite an end around rush from the Pioneers.
The 34 – 0 score wouldn’t change over the next eight minutes, and White County improved their record to 5-1 while Warren County fell to 3-4. White County will celebrate homecoming next week as they host the 2-4 Dekalb County Tigers at Dee Harris Field Friday night.
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