Thoughts of Kevin Dyson being tackled at the end of Super Bowl XXXIV probably entered Warren County Middle School football coach Donnie Harris’ head Tuesday night. Or maybe he was just too upset that his Pioneer fell short in Franklin County for the second straight week.
After seeing Franklin North score a game-winning touchdown in the final seconds last week, the Pioneers once again suffered a late setback as the team lost 14-8 on the road to Franklin South Tuesday.
Warren County (1-2) has seen some late flags prove to be costly in each game. Against Franklin South Tuesday night, the Pioneers had two late touchdowns by Noah Campbell negated on holding penalties, including one in the final seconds which would’ve tied the game. This week’s penalties came after the Pioneers seemingly put away Franklin North last week on a long gallop by Isaiah Grayson, only to see the yellow flag come out and bring the touchdown back.
The Pioneers still had a chance to knot the score at 14 against Franklin South Tuesday night, but quarterback Trayton Rackley was stopped just short on the final play.
Rackley put the Pioneers in position to tie the game with a 63-yard pass to Grayson in the final seconds after Franklin South took a late lead. Deep in Franklin South’s territory, Rackley handed off to Campbell on the next play and it looked like the tailback had crossed the goal line.
It didn’t matter if Campbell scored though as a holding call, the second one to negate a fourth-quarter touchdown run by the Pioneers, moved the ball back and left the Pioneers with one last chance to score.
Rackley scrambled on the final play, hoping to make something happen. The quarterback turned upfield, but was stopped by a gang of Franklin South defenders at the 5 as the clock expired.
Coach Harris believed a sluggish start by his team gave Franklin South momentum and, ultimately, the victory.
“We came out a little flat and they drove it down and scored early,” said Harris. “We’ve just got to go back to work and make sure we show up ready to play football every day we hit the field, be it practice or games.”
Franklin South opened the game with a 10-play, 60-yard scoring drive. A 13-yard touchdown pass, followed by a successful two-point conversion, gave the home team an 8-0 lead.
The score would stay the same until halftime as the Pioneers failed to score on their two first-half drives. It wasn’t until Warren County got the ball for the second time in the second half that the score would change.
The Pioneers mounted a six-play drive to tie the game as Campbell got going on the ground. Campbell had runs of 11 and 13 yards to move Warren County into its opponents’ territory before Rackley took to the air.
Rackley connected with Tristan Gunter for a 32-yard touchdown to make it 8-6. Campbell got the call on the two-point conversion and scored to tie the game in the fourth quarter.
The Pioneers got the ball right back when Douglas Nelson recovered a fumble at the Franklin South 20, but the Pioneers were denied a chance to take the lead when a Campbell touchdown run was brought back on a holding call. The Pioneers would fumble, setting up Franklin South’s go-ahead touchdown.
Franklin South stayed on the ground every play of the drive, eventually going 75 yards on nine plays to score with a minute to play. The two-point conversion was no good, leaving the Pioneers trailing 14-6.
Rackley’s long pass to Grayson gave the Pioneers life, but it wasn’t enough as Warren County dropped to 1-2 overall.
The Pioneers will play their first home game of the season next Tuesday when Shelbyville Harris comes to town. Action at Nunley Stadium is set to start at 6:30 p.m.