No. 1 Being the astute football analyst that I am (hahaha), I have said for many years to anyone who would listen that Warren County football needed another great running back to break the losing season record. If you are over 60, you can remember Jerry and Curtis Lusk, as well as Jeff Womack. 

C.J. Taylor has become that running back, although he is a quarterback.

According to MaxPreps, the official statistics for the TSSAA, C.J. Taylor is the No. 3 rusher in Tennessee and the 17th leading rusher in the nation. C.J. officially has 924 rushing yards. C.J. has to be considered a Mr. Football candidate.

No. 2  A few sports are beginning to enter the last phase of their season by starting district tournaments. For some sports, the season will end this week. 

High school golf played its district tournament Monday. Middle school volleyball and soccer have tournaments this weekend. WCMS volleyball will end its season Saturday in a district tournament at Coffee County. 

WCMS soccer has a JV tournament to end the season this weekend at Winchester, and the varsity will end its season next weekend. There are big expectations for Lauren Slatton to reach the state tournament in golf, and she is just a freshman!

No. 3 High school soccer and volleyball are still going strong. The soccer team has played some tough out-of-region opponents. Its two losses were to teams not in their region. 

Soccer appears to be poised to finish its season strongly and enter the district tournament as the favorite. Volleyball has been inconsistent and the biggest challenge is mental. When the high school volleyball team plays to its potential, the Lady Pioneers can play with anyone. 

No. 4 The Tennessee Vols open their season Saturday at South Carolina. Tickets will be limited to about 20,000. The game will be on SEC Network at 6:30 p.m.

Tennessee is favored in the game. The NFL has had two weeks of games. The Titans have won two games by a total of five points. Las-minute field goals in both games were the difference. For the moment, the Pioneer football team is undefeated and so are the Titans. Let’s hope by this weekend all three of those teams are still undefeated.

No. 5 Every high school football player I have interviewed has said the same thing. “We are playing for each other.” Each player credits head coach Matt Turner for making the team less selfish. 

Without question, Turner has created positive chemistry on this team. The team is well aware that a win at Siegel on Friday night will be historical. I’d bet my paycheck on the Pioneers winning this week and breaking the 29-year losing season record.