The Pioneer football team is coming off two straight victories.
The last time the Warren County High School football team opened the season with three straight wins was 2007. Chris Madewell was the coach and that Pioneer team won its first four games.
Current WCHS coach Matt Turner wants to burn the ships and focus on Rockvale, the first region game of the season.
Before anyone forgets about the past, let’s remember last year’s thrilling victory over Rockvale. The Pioneers pulled out a 36-35 win. It was a major step forward in coach Turner’s first season as head coach.
Rockvale was a young team last season and only lost three seniors. Warren County has an impressive group of seniors, many of whom play both offense and defense. Only one player for Rockvale plays both ways, according to coach Rick Rice.
If numbers on a team roster mean anything, Rockvale has a distinct advantage. Coach Rice has 152 players on his squad with 112 players on the varsity team.
The Rocket quarterback is a junior, Logan Nowacki. He was the backup last season and he beat out last year’s starter for the position. Coach Rice said, “The team loves Nowacki because he is so tough.”
The Pioneers have a tough quarterback of their own in C.J. Taylor, who has rushed for 397 yards the first two games of the season. Coach Turner started and rotated different players against Cannon County on Thursday night.
One player who started for the first time on offense was Bryan McAnulty. He took Kaden Jordan’s place at left tackle. Coach Turner said, “No. 70 McAnulty has the potential to be a good player. He needed game-time experience and he got about 90% of the snaps. We also put Eli Cantrell in for Braylon Grayson on defense to get him more experience.”
The Pioneers have to rotate in more players and find relief for two-way starters when going against a team with Rockvale’s numbers. Coach Turner said, “I have always said that you are only as good as your No. 2 team. We had some mistakes and penalties against Cannon County because we had some younger players in there. We also made some mistakes as a coaching staff. Fortunately, these are things that can be corrected.”
Both coaches like and respect each other. Rick Rice said, “I really like what Matt Turner is doing over there. I really liked meeting him last year. He is doing things the right way.”
Coach Turner knows Rick Rice won a state championship at Wayne County and is considered a good coach by his peers. Turner said, “Coach Rice is so good that he could take a young kid that may not start here and make him a starter for him.”
Coach Rice has a special plan to contain C.J. Taylor.
Without divulging too many details, Rice said, “We will put 13 players on defense,” he said laughing. “Tell Matt that I said that.”
If the Pioneer offense goes according to coach Turner’s plan, Rockvale will have a whole lot more to worry about than Taylor. Turner has been preparing for this game by pushing his team to play smart -- and tough.
Turner has also challenged his team to “burn the ships” and go where Warren County football has not gone in years. A win at Rockvale would be another major step forward for what coach Turner calls #Squad52.
