10-3-12 —   The Wayne County Cardinals returned to district play last Friday  night at Campbell Field, facing home standing Corbin. The Cards  entered the contest with an impressive 5-1 mark, coming off a 21-7  road loss at #3 Bell County.  The Cards entered the match up as the  number 7 ranked team in Class 3A, while the Redhounds were coming off  

an open week with a 2-3 record. The contest marked the 26th meeting  between the two schools as Corbin rallied for a 35-28 win in 2011 at  Jewell Field, to own a 24-1 all-time series advantage.

    Wayne County used an efficient offense, paced by the 76 and 72 yard  touchdown receptions of junior wide receiver Jason Perkins and a  Cardinal defensive unit that forced 5 turnovers, including three  interceptions, en route a 26-23 road district win.

    The win was the program's first ever at Campbell Field and the first  since 1987 against the Redhounds. It improved the squad to 6-1  overall and 1-1 in district play.

    "We've had some big wins in our program, but I'm not sure we've had  any bigger wins than this one. We made some mistakes, but our kids  

just kept fighting, so I can't say enough about this team's attitude  and effort.  We have had some battles the past few weeks and we want  to enjoy this and celebrate a little, but Monday brings a new  opponent and a new challenge in Casey County," said Cards head coach  Shawn Thompson.

    Perkins finished with 5 receptions for 171 yards with the two  scores, as Wayne County totaled 328 yards on 53 plays, with 9 first  downs, against 3 turnovers. Junior Tyler Guffey posted his best game  of the season, completing 10 of 18 pass attempts for 209 yards with 2  TDs, plus added a rushing TD with 28 yards, on 11 attempts.

    "Jason Perkins had one of the biggest games a receiver has ever had  in this program and we needed both those big plays to grab momentum.  

He also really reversed field with some monster punts, so credit our  

special teams with improvement in all areas. I also thought Tyler was  

in a better rhythm and made some great throws, so a big key in that  

was the play of our offensive line.  I thought we struggled in some  

of our passing game at Bell County, so credit our guys on the line  and our backs for picking up their blitzes all night long, that was  big," said Thompson.

    The defensive unit put up another solid effort holding the hosts to  245 total yards and 8 first downs, in 45 plays, while helping force 5  Redhound turnovers.  Senior defensive end John Guffey returned a  Corbin pass 24 yards for a touchdown, while Junior Ruiz and Chris  Clem helped preserve the win with two late interceptions.

    "Our defense has been an aggressive bunch all season and has not  only forced some turnovers, but we have maybe five touchdowns, which  

all are big momentum plays.  John's return gave us the lead going  into the half.  I also liked the play of our linebackers, both Joe  and Dagan played well," said Thompson.

    Joe Pierce, a sophomore, registered a career best 17 tackles, while  Dagan Shelton helped the cause with 10 stops. James Barnes tallied 5  tackles, while the trio of Alan Brown, Junior Ruiz and John Guffey  all finished with 4 stops each.

    Corbin, which dropped to 2-4 overall and 0-1 in district play, was  led by junior quarterback Taylor Waddle.  The signal caller completed  8 of 19 passes for 148 yards and 2 scores, plus led the ground attack  with 58 yards on 4 attempts.  Waddle scored on a 47 yard run and  

passed for scores of 30 and 36 yards.

    "We knew with an open week that Corbin would have some different  wrinkles and they did, but I thought we adjusted pretty well.  They  scored on a hook and ladder play, had a couple halfback passes, but  as a whole I thought we played pretty well.  This is the second  

straight district game that our opponent has an open week before us  and that is tough," said Thompson.

    Wayne County opened the scoring on their second series of the  contest, using a 7-play 55 yard drive, all on the ground, capped off  by a Tyler Guffey 1 yard touchdown run.  The Ruiz point after made  the score 7-0 with 3:22 left in the opening period.

    The Redhounds, which managed just one first down in the first half,  evened the score at 7-7, at the 10:55 mark of the second quarter on a  Taylor Waddle 47 yard touchdown run, followed by the Cal Jackson  extra point.

    The Cards answered right back 6 plays later with a big play of their  own as Guffey connected with a streaking Jason Perkins down the  sideline for a 76 yard touchdown pass. The conversion attempt, after  

a Corbin penalty, was no good, leaving the score 13-7 with 8:19 left  

in the half.

    A Wayne County turnover setup the next score as the Cards muffed a  

punt return at their own 26 yard line, which three plays later turned  

into a Taylor Waddle 30 yard hook and ladder connection to Josh and  

Matt Jewell.  The kick failed leaving the score knotted at 13-13 with  

5:38 left in the second stanza.

    The Wayne County defense broke the tie, on a John Guffey 24 yard  

interception return and the point-after pushed the Cards to a 20-13  

advantage with just under 2-minutes left in the half.

    The Cards missed a golden opportunity just before the first half  

horn, as Wayne County marched inside the Corbin 1 yard line, but a  

busted play ended with a fumble and Corbin dodged a major bullet.

    "We had two plays called and were inside the one foot line, but we  

had some miscommunication and that score would've been such a big  

momentum play to go into the half up two scores.  We had two  

turnovers in the half and it cost us 7 and gave Corbin 7, so  

eliminate those types of things and we possibly are up 20 points,"  

said Thompson.

    Neither team was able to get much going in the third quarter as  

Wayne County fumbled on their opening play of the second half, but  

the miscue didn't cost the squad any points.  The next drive did as a  

penalty followed by a Grant Grigsby quarterback sack in the end zone  

gave the Redhounds a 2 point safety, to cut the lead to 20-15 with  

6:43 left in the third quarter.

    Wayne County used another defensive stand to stop a Corbin drive on  

their 11 yard line and the offense responded with a 5 play, 85 yard  

march, highlighted by Tyler Guffey's 72 yard touchdown pass to Jason  

Perkins.  The conversion pass failed, leaving the Cards with a 26-15  

advantage, with 8:25 remaining in regulation.

    Corbin wasn't about to go away and hit the end zone again on Taylor  

Waddle's 36 yard touchdown pass to senior wide out Josh Jewell.   

Waddle connected on the conversion pass to Hunter Grubb to close the  

gap to 26-23, with 5:35 left in the fourth period.

    "We knew it wasn't going to be easy, I mean going to Corbin and  

winning is something we've never done, so it was going to take all 48  

minutes to finish the deal.  Corbin is an extremely physical football  

team and consider the type of schedule they play each year and after  

this game all four losses were by a touchdown or less, Coach Jewell  

always has his teams ready to play," said Thompson.

    The Wayne County defense made sure that 26-23 was going to stick, as  

Chris Clem and Junior Ruiz intercepted passes to end the Hounds final  

two drives as Wayne County celebrated a 26-23 district win.

    "I'm so proud and happy for our kids and fans, plus we had so many  

alumni there wanting to beat Corbin, wanting to end this awful streak  

and as a coach that just means so much.  We want to continue to have  

a program that our school and community can be proud of. This win is  

a big one, but hopefully we're setting the stage for bigger things  

down the road," said Thompson.

    Up next for the Cards is a Friday night Homecoming date with  

district rival Casey County.  The Rebels under second year head coach  

Sam Marple are 2-5 on the season and 1-1 in district play, coming off  

a 54-13 home loss to Bell County.

    "We are playing for a home playoff game the next two weeks.  We take  

care of business and I think we have an excellent shot, but lose and  

anything can happen.  Homecoming is always a tough week as far as  

focus goes, plus we have to be ready to take care of business.  Casey  

County plays extremely hard and they have one of the best rushers in  

Class 3A in Alex Bolen, so we have to get back after it and be ready  

to compete," said Thompson.

    Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday night at Wayne County's Jewell  

Field. For a preview of the matchup see related story inside this  

edition of The Outlook.