As we near the start of the 2023 football season, the Southern Standard will be breaking down the Pioneer football roster. We will be dividing our previews by positions, starting with quarterbacks. These previews, which will run every issue until the season kicks off Friday, Aug. 18 against DeKalb County are sponsored by Security Federal Savings Bank.

Fans have been clamoring for the Pioneers to embrace the passing game since the Pedro Paz era, but five decades of Warren County teams have done most of their damage on the ground. If something was to change this year, it would likely be because of the talent at quarterback and new offensive coordinator Josh Harris.

Harris, who spent most of the last decade winning state championships as part of the Oakland staff, had the Pioneer passing attack humming in 7-on-7 work this summer and would like for that to translate to Fridays this fall.

Don’t expect Warren County to bring in an air raid against DeKalb County though. If anything, Harris just strives to be balanced.

“We want to be able to run it, and by running it, it will set up our passing,” said Harris. “When they’re putting more people in the box because they have to stop the run, we can take advantage of it and look for the pass.”

Installing a new system is never easy, but having a seasoned quarterback helps. Senior Alex van Vuuren has been working at the position for the last two years and seemingly has the position all to himself following the graduation of Nate Elrod.