The Pioneers have a lot more on the line tonight than keeping a winning streak alive. A win against Cookeville is a giant step to securing a playoff position. 

Warren County is tied for first place in the region with Oakland. Cookeville has already played Riverdale and Oakland. Warren County faces Riverdale and Oakland during the last two weeks of the season. For a team that is serious about the playoffs, tonight’s game has important consequences.

The top team in a region plays the fourth place team in another region in the playoffs. It is advantageous to be first in the region rather than fourth for obvious reasons. The pressure continues to build for the Pioneers with each game.

In addition to the game itself, it’s homecoming. The 1980 class is celebrating a 40-year reunion, and the 11-2, 1980 Pioneer football team will be honored at the game. 

The Pioneers are 6-0 and playing a nemesis, the Cookeville Cavaliers. Cookeville has often prevented Warren County teams from advancing in the playoffs in various sports. There are plenty of reasons not to like the Cavaliers.

Pioneer senior running back and linebacker Ryland Holder explains, “This is a rivalry game between us and Cookeville. They have gotten the best of us in the past. We want to get to 7-0 and beat Cookeville.”

The Pioneer football team will be trying to break an 11-year losing streak to Cookeville.

On paper, the teams are similar. Cookeville has 437 total passing yards for the season, and Warren County has 396 total passing yards. Cookeville has 1,414 total rushing yards, and Warren County has 1,813. 

Cookeville’s most dominant rusher is their quarterback, No. 6, Stockton Owen, and the same is true for Warren County. C.J. Taylor is the Pioneers most dominant rusher and the team’s QB. 

Cookeville coach Jimmy Maynord shared some thoughts about his quarterback and team. Coach Maynord said, “Owen has never made a B in school. Brown and Cornell are talking to him. We have a spread offense, but we are a run-dominant football team. We win games by running the football.” 

An interesting fact about coach Maynord is he was the head coach of Smith County for 14 years. Maynord brought his Smith County team to McMinnville for Warren County’s homecoming in 2011. Smith County won that game 51-0.

Nobody is expecting that type of outcome tonight. Several things are in Warren County’s favor. The Pioneers have fought to hold onto their lead in the past two games in the second half to passing attacks by Blackman and Siegel. Cookeville doesn’t appear to have that type of passing attack. The Pioneer defense has been very effective against the run all season.

And there is one more advantage. The Pioneer quarterback is a much better runner than Cookeville’s QB. Coach Maynord doesn’t concede that advantage to Warren County, but he is very aware of C.J. Taylor. 

Maynord said, “We will try to tackle him. We have seen that they put No. 1 in the I-formation at times. Taylor is a very good runner. He has a change of pace. People bounce off him. He has deceptive speed.”

Cookeville lost their top tailback on the third play of the first game. Two players running the ball for Cookeville will be No. 27, Logan Sides and No. 4, Evan Whited. 

Whited is one of two sets of identical twins on the team. Evan’s identical twin is No. 5, Waylon Whited, a receiver. The other set of twins are two big linemen. No. 77, Alex Delk is a 6-foot-4, 305-pound lineman and No. 78, Wes Delk, is a 6-foot-5, 295-pound lineman.

Pioneer offensive coordinator Kenny Shultz sums up the game this way, “When you have played at Warren County, as I have and I am proud of that, you develop a hatred of them (Cookeville). It is nothing personal. The people there are nice. It is a nice city. This is an important game for many reasons. But if you are a Pioneer, you don’t like Cookeville. That is a good thing. It is in the wrestling program. It is in the basketball program. It is in the baseball program. Our kids were not satisfied with their performance against Siegel last week. I think that has made them work hard this week.”

Being undefeated and 6-0 is a tremendous accomplishment. Crowning a homecoming queen is a great high school tradition. But let’s be honest. This football team is making history. The football game is the main attraction. 

The Pioneers return home after being on the road for two weeks. They will attempt to beat a rival, remain in first place, and make more history. It is fitting the game is sold out. It is tough to imagine a more exciting game. Yes, Pioneer football is exciting! That is historic in itself.

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