The Pioneers notched back-to-back wins in their border battle with Coffee County on Friday night, entering the win column for the first time this season with a 32-21 victory in Manchester.
It was a tale of two halves for the Pioneers on their way to vanquishing their former district foes and moving up to a 1-3 record this year. The first half saw Warren County try to do it by the air with quarterback Hunter Mullican launching 16 passes before halftime while his platoon of running backs barely broke a sweat with just six runs from scrimmage. Mullican went 8-for-21 on the night for 161 yards, a pair of touchdowns and an interception.
The Pioneers were able to draw first blood late in the first quarter when a 21-yard field goal off the foot of Johnny Smith split the uprights.
However, their lead was short-lived as the Pioneer special teams continued to struggle. Coffee County’s Cody Howes started the second quarter off right for the Red Raiders when he returned a Warren County punt for a 55-yard TD.
The Pioneers wouldn’t trail long as Hunter Mullican hit his favorite first-half target, D’Andre League, for a 46-yard touchdown at the 10-minute mark of the second quarter. League led all receivers in the first half snatching four passes for 91 yards.
The first-half scoring was capped by an errant snap deep in Manchester territory on fourth down when the ball went over the Red Raider punter’s head for a safety. The miscue gave Warren County a 12-7 advantage going into the locker room.
The second half began with a three-and-out by the Pioneers and a drive that ate up nearly the whole third quarter by Manchester. The long drive that spanned 14 plays failed to put any points on the board for the Red Raiders as they turned the ball over on downs.
It was then Cameron Lusk erupted from the backfield, running over defenders before breaking free into the Coffee County secondary where he steamrolled two defensive backs on the way to a 78-yard touchdown run. Lusk carried the load for the Pioneers Friday night, rushing nine times for 119 yards. His run also set the tone of what would be a smash-mouth ground game strategy for the second half.
The subsequent two-point conversion attempt failed leaving the Pioneers with a 19-7 lead.
The Red Raiders responded in short order, marching their next drive down field and this time finishing the job when running back Reece Platt got in the endzone from four yards out with 2:45 left in the third.
With the flood gates opening both ways, the Pioneers returned the favor by slicing their way down field, this time on the shoulders of running back Tristan Reish.
Reish carried the ball five times for 41 yards, the last yard of which was a plunge across the goal line to give his squad a 25-14 lead just as the fourth quarter began.
Again working from behind, Red Raider quarterback Peyton Meeker, who went 11-for-29 for 235 yards, notched 59 yards of that total on a toss to Chris Vaughn who carried it to the house for a 59-yard touchdown. The long pass play, which came on a fourth-and-long situation, brought Coffee County back to 25-21 with a little over eight minutes left.
Warren County found itself faced with a fourth-down play of its own with 2:10 remaining. The Pioneers drove deep into Coffee County territory only to be backed up outside field goal range by an intentional grounding call.
Surrendering the ball would have given the Red Raiders one more chance to pull off a come-from-behind win. Facing fourth and forever from their opponent’s 32-yard-line, Mullican dropped back for one of his few second-half pass attempts, this one fired at a familiar target.
Lee Carden found himself in single coverage on a flag route and atoned himself by hauling in a 32-yard Mullican offering to ice the game.
The Pioneers were able to stonewall their hosts on one last threat in the closing minute to claim their first win of the season and defeat Coffee County by 11 points for a second straight year. They defeated Coffee County 43-32 at Nunley Stadium last year, marking the first time they had beaten their foes to the west since 2008.
The win is only the third win against the Red Raiders since 2000 in what has become a yearly border battle. The teams were in the same district until this year, opting to keep each other on their out-of-district schedules to preserve the rivalry.
The Pioneers’ next challenge will be a district tilt against the White County Warriors, who come to Nunley Stadium this week for homecoming.