9-12-12 —    The Wayne County Cardinals traveled to Berea last Friday night to  face the home standing Madison Southern Eagles. The Cards entered  with a perfect 3-0 record and were coming off a 27-7 home win over  North Laurel. The Eagles, another class 5A opponent on the schedule,  entered with a 1-1 mark coming off a 47-0 shutout win, at Lynn Camp.  The contest marked the 10th meeting between the two former district  rivals, as Madison Southern owned an 8-1 series advantage, with Wayne  County claiming the first win in the rivalry in 2011, a 38-27 home  

decision.

    Wayne County answered a Damien Harris overtime touchdown with a  Tyler Guffey 9 yard scoring strike to Dagan Shelton and then claimed  the win with a Guffey conversion pass to junior fullback James  Barnes, as the Cards claimed a 22-21 win.

    "Madison Southern scored and kicked the extra point in overtime and  at that point I felt if we scored, we would go for the win. It was a  tough and hard-fought game that came down to the final play, so  credit our kids for wanting to win and having confidence to go for it. These guys have my back and after a timeout, I trusted them and  

they executed a good play. This wasn't our best game, but wow what a  great finish. Situations like these are why you play or coach," said  Cards head coach Shawn Thompson.

    The Cards totaled 281 yards on 53 plays and 12 first downs, led by  the 185 passing yards of Tyler Guffey. The junior completed 11 of 22   attempts with two touchdowns, while sophomore Logan Gardner paced all  receivers with 5 catches for a season best 123 yards and a touchdown.

    "I thought our passing game was the best it has been all season and  Logan had a big night. We have been struggling on our timing and  getting things to click. Our offense struggled at times with some  snap issues, which resulted in too many negative plays. This was our  first time playing on that type of sports turf and maybe it bothered  some things, but we battled through it to get the win," said Thompson.

    Madison Southern dropped to 1-2 despite the three touchdown effort  of sophomore running back Damien Harris. The talented speedster  scored on runs of 79, 50 and 9 yards, while totaling 208 rushing  yards, on 20 attempts. The Division One prospect was coming off a 252  yard and 5 touchdown performance against Lynn Camp.

    "Damien Harris is billed as the fastest back in the state, after  

winning a state track championship last spring, so we knew that he  would break some big plays. Our goal was to limit the number of big  plays he made and not allow him to beat us. It's easy to see why  schools like Illinois and Syracuse have offered him, he's the real  deal. A great player and a great competitor," said Thompson.

    The Eagles used 39 plays to net 283 yards of offense and 7 first  downs, with 1 turnover. The host rushed for 230 yards and completed 4  of 8 passes for 53 yards.

    "Madison Southern is a much improved football team and I think they  will make some noise in their district. In their opening game against  Bourbon County Harris didn't play, so don't underestimate the quality  of team they are. They have a big front-line on both sides of the  ball, with good size and strength," said Thompson.

    Southern opened the game with the football and needed just 3 plays  to score as Harris capped-off a 91 yard drive with a 79 yard  touchdown run.  Adam Simpson booted the extra-point to push the score  to 7-0, a minute into the quarter.

    That marked the first time all season that Wayne County had trailed  in 13 quarters of football. The Cards had two possessions in the  first quarter, but both produced a first touchdown and then a punt.

    Wayne County scored on their third series of the contest, as a 9-play drive ended with a James Barnes 3 yard touchdown run. The big  play of the drive was a Guffey 34 yard connection to Gardner, as the  

Jr. Ruiz extra-point knotted the score at 7-7, with 7:38 left in the  

half.

    The Cards followed that up with another score after a defensive  stop, as Tyler Guffey completed a 46 yard touchdown pass to Logan  Gardner. The point after gave Wayne County a 14-7 advantage, with  

3:28 left in the second quarter.

    The teams traded punts and fumbles, as neither team would score the  rest of the first half, leaving Wayne with a touchdown edge.

    Madison Southern opened the second half with another big play, as a  Damien Harris 50 yard scamper for a score and the extra-point knotted  the score at 14-14, with 9:33 left in the third period.

    Wayne County had a chance to win the game in regulation, but a  questionable offensive pass interference call, negated a big Guffey  to Gardner completion and stalled the drive.

    "We didn't have a lot of penalties, but they were all big. That was  a very tough call, but we have to keep playing and battle through  it," said Thompson.

    Regulation ended with a 14-14 tie and forced an overtime period with  the Eagles starting the bonus time with the football. Harris scored  on 2nd and goal from the 9 yard line and the kick gave the host a  

21-14 advantage.

    Wayne County answered that with an overtime score of their own on  

2nd and goal from the 9 yardline, as Guffey connected with senior  

tight end Dagan Shelton.

    "Even when they scored first, our kids kept their composure and just  

kept competing. We had good focus and executed, so I just couldn't be  

more proud of our guys. We've been tested that's for sure," said  

Thompson.

    Guffey's conversion pass to James Barnes sealed the win and set off  

a wild celebration on the Cardinal sideline.

    Shelton led the defensive effort with 10 tackles, while sophomore  

linebacker Joe Pierce added 9 stops.

    Alan Brown and Chris Clem finished with 7 tackles each, while Lance  

Humble totaled 5 stops.

    "We can enjoy this for a night and then it's back to work to get  

ready for a very good Lincoln County team," said Thompson.

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

Jewell Field.

    For more details see a related story on the match-up in this edition  

of The Outlook.