Injured QB questionable for Wednesday

Will he play or will he sit?

That’s the question fans are asking about Warsaw quarterback Johnny Eierman.

The Wildcats begin their quest for a third state football championship at 7 p.m. Wednesday when they host Pierce City.

Eierman broke his nonthrowing hand against Osage in Week 7.

“We won’t know until Wednesday when he goes back to the specialist,” Warsaw coach Randy Morrow said of Eierman’s status for Wednesday night. “... He’s been practicing and doing what he can.”

Morrow said that he would like for Eierman to be cleared to play and only use him if needed Wednesday night.

That leaves Nolan Flores to play quarterback. He is 3-0 as a starter with running back Ray Hoover carrying much of the load.

Hoover rushed for 1,092 yards and 13 touchdowns through the first nine games.

Eierman ran for 895 yards on 127 carries and scored a team-high 15 touchdowns in seven games played.

The junior completed 50 of 108 passes for 728 yards with eight touchdown passes and two interceptions.

The Wildcats are coming off a 14-8 quadruple overtime victory over El Dorado Springs to win their district.

“We weren’t able to run our offense in that muck last week,” Morrow said.

“Our defense won the game the other night. They are playing super right now.”

Warsaw allowed only 14.5 points a game this season while rolling up 40.2 on offense.

Hoover is a force on defense, too. The linebacker and defensive end Andre Perez lead the Wildcats with five sacks each through nine games.

Linebacker John Ward leads Warsaw with 86 tackles.

Defensive back Drew Bradley leads the team with five interceptions but probably won’t play Wednesday after suffering a non-football related injury.

The Eagles, who went 6-4 and were runners-up to Lamar in Class 2, District 11, averaged 30.4 points on offense and 17.2 on defense.

Pierce City could have easily won eight games because two of their losses were by one point. They lost 20-19 to Jasper in Week 1 and 13-12 to Miller in Week 6.

The Eagles’ offense runs through quarterback Wayne Sooter, who threw for 1,203 yards this season, completing 55 of 103 passes. He threw 16 touchdowns and  nine interceptions.

Sooter is Pierce City’s second-leading rusher.

He ran for 500 yards on 95 carries, and he scored eight rushing touchdowns. Morrow said that Pierce City likes to establish the running game.

“We played them last year,” Morrow said. Warsaw won 48-7. “They do a lot of different things. We counted 18 different offensive sets (on video).”

Pierce City features a balanced running attack with five players gaining 275 yards or more rushing.

Cody Cox rushed for a team-high 665 yards on 66 carries. He scored seven touchdowns.

The Eagles’ defense is led by linebacker Zach Crouch (62 tackles), end Chance Chapman (61), linebacker Curtis Palmer (60), linebacker Sooter (58) and lineman Aaron Crouch (50).

Morrow said that Zach Crouch, Aaron Crouch and Kyle Crouch are big physical players in which his team must contend.