Banged up, bruised and beaten. It’s becoming the motto of the WCHS soccer team.

The Pioneers had another rough night Thursday, falling to Rhea County 5-1 on their home field. The loss dropped the team to 2-4-1 overall this season.

In what has become an all-too-painful trend this season, the Pioneers were once again roughed up against an overly physical Golden Eagle squad. Warren County was able to battle the top District 6AAA team to a 1-1 stalemate early, but injuries sapped the group of its ability to compete for 80 minutes.

Rhea County scored four unanswered goals, three coming after halftime, to hand the Pioneers their third district loss.

“This season has taken its toll,” said coach Matt Jackson, who has had to piece together lineups all season due to mounting injury concerns. “By the end, I only had two subs left and a bunch hurt. It started going downhill as the injuries mounted.”

John Jackson scored for Warren County on a penalty kick following a foul which took down Jax Griffith in the box. 

The Pioneers return to action with back-to-back home games to start this week. Warren County will face Soddy Daisy Monday at 6 p.m. before taking on White County on Tuesday. 

Warren County will honor seniors Griffith, Wesley Pepper, Rob Phillips, Ethan Cowan, Alex Flores, Andres Perez and Jordan Ruiz during Tuesday’s game, which will begin at 7 p.m.