FRONT ROYAL – Warren County face an opponent in a familiar position on Friday.
The winless Wildcats play in Class 3 Northwestern District Football Action at Manassas Park without a win.
Warren County’s senior Emery Coffman said the Wildcats are eager to claim their first win, but they know the Cougars are too.
“I just want to win and I know they want to win too,” said Coffman. “I think no matter what, both teams will do their best to get their first win of the season.”
The Wildcats (0-6, 0-2 Class 3 Northwestern) show their best offensive performance this season, a 48-22 loss to Meridian.
Warren County manager Jerry Sarchet said he saw some real advantages on the offensive last week.
“We moved the ball offensive and finally got points,” said Sarchet. “We gave up a lot early on. We lost a few balls. But in the end we moved the ball pretty well. I think that’s a good sign for the future.”
Warren County’s running game was led by a second and two freshmen this season. Sophomore PJ Dellinger has 225 yards of rushing, newbie Gavin Dodson has 157 yards and a touchdown, and newbie Christian Weller has 142 yards and two scores.
“It looks good for the future when these ninth graders play,” said Sarchet. “We just have to keep pushing it and keep everything positive.”
Sarchet said the offensive was helped by the return of junior DJ Rizzo, who missed most of the season due to injury.
Junior quarterback Nick Foltz has thrown for 342 yards and a touchdown. Junior Will Moreno has 10 receptions for 95 yards and Senior Aadon Atwood has nine catches for 112 yards.
Sarchet said defense had been a strength for the Wildcats for most of the season, but that wasn’t the case against Meridian.
“We simply didn’t show any discipline on the defensive,” said Sarchet. “And (Meridian) did what they do with teams that have no discipline – they just walked through us. If the field was 900 or 100 meters, we didn’t stop them and we lost focus, we lost . ” Discipline.”
Coffman said the defense must narrow down the big moves they give up.
“Our defense is mostly good, but every now and then we miss a big game or screw up in some way,” said Coffman. “We get a flag and it messes up our flow and everything. But once we get that under control, we should be fine.”
The Cougars (0-6, 0-1 Class 3 Northwestern) were beaten 330-0 this season and are still looking for their first points of the year after a 57-0 loss to Strasbourg on Monday.
Despite Warren County’s record, Sarchet said his team was still optimistic and had competed against the top two teams in the Northwestern District Class 3. Sarchet said they are still trying to find a replacement game for October 29th as they are supposed to be playing Mountain View. Mountain View had to cancel its season because not enough players were available.
“We just have to take care of business,” said Sarchet. “We still have three district games to go and hopefully a fourth game. It would be nice to take a closer look at these and score some wins.”
Coffman said he feels the team is about to turn and take a win.
“I feel like we just have to go out and do our best for four quarters,” said Coffman. “And work on a few little things that we keep messing up because that’s what gets us through the little things in the end.”