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Pioneers hope to open season after delays
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WCHS football practice is set to resume this Monday following a 10-day shutdown. Pictured working on their defensive assignments prior to the shutdown are, from left, Hunter Pezzimenti, Ojani Hernandez and Levi Melton.
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WCHS junior Kaden Rutledge and the Pioneers are still looking for their first game action of 2021.

The Pioneers have not played a football game this season. This past Friday, they were scheduled to play Ridgeway in Memphis. 

If you count school days, Friday was day nine of the Pioneer football COVID shutdown that began Aug. 24. The decision to shut down Pioneer football for 10 days was made four days after head coach Matt Turner decided to postpone the DeKalb County season-opener on Friday, Aug. 20. 

Approximately 20% of the Pioneer football team was either in isolation or quarantined with COVID on the Friday of the DeKalb County game. The number of Warren County football players affected by COVID had increased to 40% by the Monday after the scheduled DeKalb County game.

People may be asking why the pandemic is hitting McMinnville and our youth so severely. The answer, according to medical experts, is the low vaccination rate and the refusal of local residents to wear a mask when indoors or in schools.

Some people may be disturbed by the fact so many members of our youth are missing school days and athletic competitions. Many people are simply tired with the idea of COVID, yet it remains a reality. One consequence of not sufficiently stemming the spread of COVID in McMinnville has been the shutdown of Pioneer football.

There were 35 cancelled high school football games this past week in the state of Tennessee. Warren County is one of five teams in the state that has yet to play a game. The reason games have been cancelled is to prevent sickness and deaths.

Unfortunately, this past Monday a high school football coach, Robert Ratcliff Jr., in Abingdon, Virginia passed away from COVID. He was 42 years old. Sean Hammond, a middle school coach in Dalton, Georgia also passed away from COVID on Monday.

WCHS football is scheduled to return from its 10-day shutdown this Monday with a 3 p.m. practice. A parent meeting is scheduled Monday at 6 p.m. at The Facility.

Will the Pioneers play Mt. Juliet at Nunley Stadium this Friday? What has the Pioneer coaching staff been doing during the shutdown?

The search for answers took Southern Standard on Sports to head Pioneer football coach Matt Turner’s Shade Tree Repair shop in Rock Island. The full interview can be viewed at Southern Standard on Sports for free by downloading the Southern Standard app or online at www.southernstandard.com.