Monticello — The Wayne County Cardinals open their road schedule this Friday night,

with a match-up against McCreary Central at Raider Field.

The contest marks the 13th meeting between the rivals, with the Cards

winning the previous 12, including a 62-26 home decision in 2004, the last

time the teams met in varsity play.

McCreary Central, coming off a playoff appearance in Class 4A in 2008,

returns two of the top offensive backs in the area, led by All-State

candidate Aaron Watts. Watts, a 6-2 senior quarterback, rushed 15 times for

174 yards with 3 touchdowns, plus passed for 50 yards and a score, as

McCreary Central rolled to a 40-24 season opening win at Pineville.

³Aaron Watts is just a very good athlete that¹s strong, fast, makes good

decisions and is an excellent competitor. He¹s a three sport athlete that

plays with a tremendous confidence and usually whatever game he¹s playing,

he¹s the best player on the field, or court. Defensively we have to be aware

of him at all times and do a good job of wrapping up on initial contact,²

said Cards head coach Shawn Thompson.

The Raiders are far from a one man show, as senior running back Zach

Roark showed that in the opener with 27 carries for 221 yards with 2

touchdowns, as Central totaled 445 yards of offense, with 395 of that coming

on the ground.

³Everybody knows about Watts, but last year in our scrimmage Roark

really hurt us with his hard-nosed running style. Roark is also a big time

player and if a defense keys too much on Watts, he can gash the defense up

the middle. I really think McCreary has as good of a one-two punch in the

backfield as anybody we face. I think they have maybe their best team ever.

They certainly have a lot of talent,² said Thompson.

McCreary Central will base their offense out of the I formation, but can

also use some Spread look. In their win at Pineville, the squad completed

just 2 passes, with both of those to Dustin Stephens for 50 yards and a

touchdown.

³We must win the battle of the line of scrimmage and play with a more

aggressive, swarming attitude. Central has a lot of weapons on offense, we

just have to play with a focus and attitude. We must know our assignments

and do our jobs,² said Thompson.

The Raiders may base their defense out of a 50 look, but can shift to

multiple looks, depending on the situation. In their opener the defensive

unit forced 4 turnovers, led by the 9 tackles and 2 interceptions of Aaron

Watts.

³Watts keys their offense, but also makes big plays on the defensive

side of the ball. Both Watts and Roark are players on both sides of the

ball, plus as a unit they are very aggressive on defense,² said Thompson.

Zach Roark added 8 total tackles in the season opener and Thompson knows

the offense must put up a strong effort.

³Offensively it all starts with consistent effort and not taking plays

off. We¹ve had to move some guys around due to injury, so one of our big

keys is getting off the football and getting to where we are supposed to

be,² said Thompson.

Wayne County will have to match the intensity and excitement of a Raider

team that is looking for the first win in a series that dates back to 1987.

³We know they have a lot of excitement and buzz around their program.

They feel this is an excellent chance to win, so we must be ready for four

quarters of aggressive, hard-hitting football. It should be a real challenge

for our team,² said Thompson.

The action gets started early on Friday evening as McCreary and Wayne

County Red will meet at 5 p.m., in the fifth and sixth grade game.

³I think that¹s a great idea for our youth league players and a great

opportunity to play. It puts our younger kids in the spotlight, before the

varsity game, so I feel it¹s a win-win situation for both programs. We are

always supportive of our youth league and middle school programs, plus try

to help any way we can. This is a good chance for our fans to watch some

hopefully future Cardinals,² said Thompson.

Kickoff for the varsity game is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday night, at

Raider Field. Details on that match-up, last week¹s Rockcastle County game

and an upcoming battle with Russell County, all will be in next week¹s

edition of The Outlook.