This is what everyone thought would happen last year when Cannon County landed on the football schedule. 

The thought was that the Pioneers would grill the Lions.

It didn’t happen last year in Woodbury, but it happened Thursday night at Nunley Stadium with Warren County putting touchdowns on the board faster than hotcakes.

The Pioneers jumped out to a 21-0 lead less than seven minutes into the game and cruised to a resounding 48-0 victory in front of a sparse crowd on a rainy night.

The win improves Warren County to 2-0 heading into the team’s first region game of the season next week in Rutherford County against Rockvale.

Pioneer quarterback C.J. Taylor was once again the offensive star, rushing for 89 yards and 2 TDs on his first two carries. He finished with 142 yards and 3 TDs and also forced three fumbles, recovering two of them.

“One of our goals this week was to force fumbles and we did,” said Taylor.

Aaron Ashburn and Ryland Holder also had fumble recoveries for the Pioneers. Braylon Grayson recovered an onside kick and headed to the house, but onside kick recoveries can’t be advanced so the Pioneers took over on the 30.

Other Pioneer touchdowns included a Ryland Holder 11-yard TD around left end, a Xander Lee 14-yard TD up the middle, a Kasen Holder TD on a sweep left, and an Eli Cantrell TD on a 1-yard plunge after he bounced off tacklers for a 31-yard run the play before.

The Cannon County offense was treading water from start to finish as the Lions struggled to keep their heads above water. Cannon County didn’t cross midfield until the fourth quarter when the Lions reached the Pioneer 37-yard line before turning it over on downs.

So what was different this year from last year’s game against Cannon County? The Lions stunned Pioneer Nation with a 20-7 win last year in Woodbury.

“That game is what’s different,” said Pioneer coach Matt Turner. “That game taught us to never underestimate anybody. We still have to remember that message. Now we have to worry about overconfidence because we’ve won a couple games and C.J. is getting offers. Everybody’s going to talk about C.J. and Kasen and tell us how good we are, but I’ll tell you something. If we play like this next week against Rockvale,- we’re going to get our butts kicked. We have got to do a better job.”

Taylor grabbed attention on Tuesday when he received an offer to play for Tennessee Tech. On Wednesday, he received an offer from Western Kentucky. 

He says several schools have expressed interest in the last couple days, but he’s holding out hope to get an offer from the University of Tennessee.

One of the more unique plays happened in the fourth quarter. The snap bounced off QB Bryson Elrod’s leg and popped into the air. Stephen Curtis was there to snatch it and he rambled 20 yards up the middle.

“I didn’t know what to think,” said Curtis. “I just grabbed it and ran.”