Staying at home has been good to the Warren County High School football team this season and for a half Friday night, Nunley Stadium looked like it was about to play host to a huge upset.
The Pioneers held their own against Tullahoma, but two return touchdowns by the Wildcats in the fourth quarter were too much to overcome as Warren County fell 46-29.
Warren County (2-7) went into the locker rooms trailing 19-16 and had two opportunities to take the lead in the third quarter, but Tullahoma kept the Pioneers in check long enough to take control when the game went into the fourth quarter.
A 32-yard interception return touchdown by Jonathan Stovall and 92-yard kickoff return for a score by Cole Potter helped the Wildcats win for the sixth time this season and for the third straight time over the Pioneers.
The loss spoiled a big night from the Pioneer passing game as Hunter Mullican and Lee Carden combined for 247 yards and three scores, but the theme seemed to be missed opportunities for the Pioneers and big plays by the Wildcats.
Warren County dug an early hole on its opening possession when Lee Carden was tackled for a safety after the Wildcats put the Pioneers on their goal line with a 44-yard punt by Cody Morton.
On the ensuing possession, Trey Burks added to the Wildcat lead when he busted through the line untouched for a 23-yard touchdown run. Following the PAT by Morton, Tullahoma led 9-0 with less than four minutes off the clock.
Warren County wasn’t going to lay down though. The Pioneers launched a nine-play scoring drive which relied on the running of Cameron Lusk and the combination of Mullican and Carden in the passing game.
Lusk rushed four times for 35 yards and Mullican hit Carden twice for first downs to move the ball near the Tullahoma goal line. Tristan Reish was able to push the ball across on a four-yard run as Warren County sliced the lead to 9-6. Johnny Smith left the extra point short, leaving the Pioneers behind by three.
After the long drive seemed to motivate Warren County, Burks woke up the Wildcat sideline with one play. Tullahoma needed only one play to answer the Pioneer points as Burks took a swing pass from Justin Brown and went 57 yards for his second touchdown of the period. The extra point by Morton made it 16-6 after the first quarter.
Turnovers started to pile up when the second quarter started as the game featured six giveaways in the span of eight drives. A fumble recovery by Carden set up a 25-yard field goal by Smith to make it 16-9, but a 94-yard interception return by Burks gave Morton a chip shot to push the lead back to 10.
Mullican, who had thrown the goal line interception to Burks on a drive which could have tied the game, responded right before halftime when he hooked up with Carden on a 4th-and-2 play.
Mullican threw a fade to the endzone and Carden came down with the ball between two defenders to score with 12 seconds to play.
The score left Warren County behind 19-16 after the first half, but the Pioneers started with the ball after halftime. With a chance to take the lead, Warren County was stuffed on its first two possessions in the third quarter. Evan Reynolds was called on to punt each time and Tullahoma took advantage of good field position to increase its lead.
After Reynolds had a 19-yard punt land out of bounds at the Pioneer 35, Tullahoma’s quick-strike offense put points on the board. Marselis Scott took a hand off on the next play and shot through the middle of the Pioneer defense to paydirt.
Tullahoma added to its lead to start the fourth quarter as Brown hit Riley Darden for a 15-yard score to make it 33-16 in favor of the visitors with  10:24 to play.
Warren County tried to mount a late rally, but Stovall stepped in front of a pass from Mullican and scored to make it 40-16.
Carden took over at quarterback on the next possession and led a scoring drive that ended with the new signal caller connecting with Mitchell Ashford for 27 yards, but Tullahoma didn’t take long to answer back.
On the kickoff, Smith’s attempted onside kick bounced all the way back to Potter, who was able to scoop the ball and race through the Pioneer defense on his way to a 92-yard touchdown return.
Carden added another late touchdown pass to D’Andre League, but the Pioneers couldn’t overcome the big plays by the Wildcats in the final half.
Warren County will play its final game this Friday when the Pioneers play host to the Soddy Daisy Trojans. The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. and seniors will be honored before kickoff.