11-7-12 —    The Wayne County Cardinals hosted Henry County, last Friday night at  Jewell Field, in the opening round of the Class 3A state playoffs.    The Cards entered the match up as the #7 ranked team in Class 3A in  the latest Associated Press poll, coming off a 31-14 road win at East  Jessamine last week, while the Wildcats owned 3-7 mark, coming off a  21-0 loss, at Spencer County.  The contest marked the first ever  meeting between the two schools; as the Cards were looking for their  second straight first round win, after defeating LaRue County 7-0, in  2011.

    Wayne County used a 47-0 run to offset an early Henry County  

touchdown and never looked back, while claiming a school record 10th  win, en route to an impressive 53-20 victory.  The Cards totaled a  season high 527 yards of offense on 66 plays, with 20 first downs,  led by a rushing attack that featured seven different rushers  totaling 315 yards on 46 attempts.

    "What a tremendous effort by this football team.  We ran the  

football extremely hard and after some early adjustments we really  

clicked on offense and had some big plays in both the running and  

passing game.  Henry County has great size up front, but I thought  

our guys in the trenches really controlled the line of scrimmage on  

both sides of the ball.  Anything can happen in the playoffs, but I  

thought we did a good job of taking care of business and doing  

whatever it takes to win the football game.  I'm extremely proud of  

this group for what they accomplished as far as getting ten wins and  as I told our kids we're not done yet.  Central has just an  

unbelievable program and team, they have won four of the last five  

state championships, but I know we'll show up and battle, I like my  

football team," said Wayne County head coach Shawn Thompson.

    Junior quarterback Tyler Guffey was efficient in all areas of the  

offense completing 11 of 20 passes for 212 yards, plus rushed 8 times  for 67 yards and 2 TDs.  Sophomore wide receiver Logan Gardner added  a season best 6 catches for a season high 116 yards, to lead five  different receivers that registered a reception, in the rout.

    Senior running back D'Vantae Dixson also provided a career best  rushing night with 10 attempts for 104 yards and 2 scores, while Cody  Rhule helped the cause with 9 carries for 49 yards and 2 TDs.   Sophomore Kadameion Branham made the most of his night from the  fullback position totaling 55 yards on 10 attempts with a touchdown,  plus adding a reception for 13 yards.

    "I think I've found the key to getting D'Vantae off to a great  

start, I'll just sit him in the first quarter and let him enter the  

game angry and ready to go.  I thought he played  maybe the best game  of the season, but also credit Tyler, Kadameion, Cody and Junior; I  thought all our backs really ran the football well.  I like the depth  and the effort we're getting out of the offensive backfield, plus it  all starts with the offensive line.  We continue to get excellent  play on both sides of the ball up front and that makes everything  easier," said Thompson.

    Junior running back Junior Ruiz added 6 carries for 36 yards and a  touchdown, as all eight Wayne County scores came on the ground.

    "Tyler actually passed the ball really well after an early mistake  

and Logan had a terrific night catching the football, so credit our  

passing game opening things up for our running game, which is what we  want to do, keep defenses off balanced and out of sync," said Thompson.

    The defensive unit put up another solid performance holding the  Wildcats to 203 total yards, on 33 plays and just 5 first downs, with  

118 of those yards coming late in the fourth quarter, against the  

junior varsity. Henry County finished with only 23 rushing yards, on  

16 attempts and scored both of their offensive touchdowns, after the  mercy clock was started.

    "We were very aggressive and swarming on defense and really just  played extremely well.  To hold a team to 23 rushing yards is big,  but to get that effort in the opening round of the state playoffs is  huge.  We really tried to make their quarterback uncomfortable all  night and managed to do that pretty well.  They scored a couple late,  but that takes nothing away from just a great effort" said Thompson.

    James "Bubba" Barnes, a junior defensive end, totaled a team best 6  tackles, while senior linebacker Dagan Shelton added 5 stops and a  fumble recovery, as the Cards improved to 10-1 overall on the season.

    "Defensively we continue to have different guys step up and make  plays. Bubba was solid again this week and Dagan made some plays,  plus we only played Joe Pierce limited snaps due to an injury and I  

thought Nathan Stearns came in and filled in well.  They only had 33  plays, so we did a really nice job of getting off the field," said  

Thompson.

    Henry County, which had their season end at 3-8, was led by 5-10 160  lbs quarterback Brock Fish. The senior stalwart completed 9 of 17  

passes for 129 yards and 2 scores, plus led the team with 13 rushing  yards on 7 attempts.

    "Henry County came in here as a dangerous and hungry football team  and we had an excellent week of focused practice, which really  helped.  Last year they played Corbin down to the wire, so we  

certainly respected them and played very well against a pretty decent  football team," said Thompson.

    The Cards opened the scoring at the 8:57 mark of the first quarter  

on a Tyler Guffey yard touchdown, which capped off the hosts first  

offensive series of the contest. The key play of the drive was  

Guffey's 32 yard connection to Jason Perkins, as the kick failed,  

leaving Wayne County with a 6-0 edge.

    Henry County made the most of Wayne's only turnover of the night, as  Cody Tindle returned a Tyler Guffey pass 15 yards for a score and  

Jacob Buckley booted the point after to give the Wildcats a 7-6 lead  with :37 left in the opening period.

    That would be the last visitor highlight until well after the  

outcome was decided as Wayne County responded with scores on its next  

seven drives, as the Cards put together a 47-0 run to clinch the  

second round match up at Louisville Central.

    Junior Ruiz sparked the go-ahead drive with a 33 yard kickoff return  

and followed that up just 6 plays and 44 yards later, with a 5 yard  

scoring run, which pushed the Cards on top 12-7, with 10:25 left in  

the second stanza.

After a third straight three and out by the Wildcat offense and a  

punt, Wayne County used 5 plays to travel 47 yards and score on a  

D'Vantae Dixson 16 yard touchdown run. The Cards missed their third  

conversion of the half, which left the score 18-7, with 6:56 left in  

the half.

    Wayne County forced another quick punt and added to the lead on a 6  

play, 79 yard drive, capped off by a Cody Rhule 17 yard touchdown  

run.  The conversion pass failed, leaving the score 24-7, with 2:43  

left in the second quarter.

    The Cards used another defensive stand, which resulted in a Wildcats  

turnover on downs, to add another score before intermission. The  

hosts used Guffey passes of 36 yards to Logan Gardner and 24 yards to  

Kyle Gehring, to setup a Tyler Guffey 1 yard touchdown plunge.   

Junior Ruiz added the conversion run, which left the halftime score  

at 32-7.

    "That was a great way to bounce back from the early turnover, which  

gave them the lead and all the momentum.  It started on the kickoff  

return after that point, we just settled in and played extremely well  

on both sides of the ball," said Thompson.

    Wayne County recovered the kickoff to start the second half, as  

Dagan Shelton recovered his own kick and the Cards pushed the score  

to 39-7 on a Cody Rhule 3 yard touchdown run, at the 10:15 mark of  

the third frame.

    After another Henry County punt, D'Vantae Dixson used runs of 5, 5  

and 2 yards to setup a 30 yard touchdown scamper, coupled with the  

extra point, pushed the lead to 46-7, with 4:45 left in the third  

quarter.

    Wayne County added their final score of the night and enacted the  

running clock with an 11 play, 76 yard march, capped off by a  

Kadameion Branham 5 yard touchdown run. The Junior Ruiz point after  

left the score at 53-7, with 8:30 left in the contest.

    The Wildcats added two scores late as Brock Fish connected with  

younger brother Mason Fish on a 9 yard touchdown connection and then  

on the last play of the game connected with Cole Nelson from 66 yards  

out, to leave the final score at 53-20.

    "Great win to start our postseason and just a total team effort.  We  

know Central is one of the top 20 teams overall in the state and been  

ranked near the top of 3A all season for a reason.  Both of their  

losses have been to 6A teams and their program is very respected, but  

we can't change what we are at this point, we just have to go back to  

work and play like we know how.  This team hasn't quit all year and I  

believe we'll go up there and give it all we got and see what  

happens," said Thompson.

    Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday night at Louisville Central High  

School Field. Details on the Central match up in a related story  

inside this edition of The Outlook.