CNHI
9-8-10 — The Wayne County Middle School 7th and 8th grade teams met Lexington Catholic last Saturday in the Republic Bank Bluegrass Bowl, at Ford Stadium. The all-day event featured middle school teams from Corbin, Woodford County, Lexington Catholic and Wayne County, while the two varsity games featured North Hardin, Martha Layne Collins High, Covington Catholic and host Lexington Catholic.
The Cards dropped the early morning 7th grade 1 B game by a score of 30-0, but bounced back to provided the game of the day in the 8th grade contest, dropping a heart-breaking 40-34 decision.
Wayne County led most of the way, paced by talented quarterback Logan Gardner. Gardner, named the games Offensive MVP, rushed 15 times for 252 yards, which included scoring runs of 56, 62, 13, 47 and 51 yards, plus added tow conversion runs.
Fullback defensive end Kadamian Branham added 50 yards on 10 carries, plus led the defense with a game high 8 tackles. Gardner, Justin Pennycuff and Kody Vaughn finished with 5 stops each, while nose guard Jared Philpot added 4 stops and 2 quarterback sacks.
"I was extremely proud of our kids and the way they competed so hard, we totaled more yards, forced more turnovers, had fewer penalties and fewer turnovers, but give credit to Lexington Catholic they made the clutch plays. This certainly is the type of effort we can build on and be proud of," said Wayne Middle Coach Shannon Hutchinson.
Wayne County rolled 76 yards in their opening drive, converted a fourth down and grabbed a 6-0 lead. "The first half was as wild as any I've been a part of. Neither team punted, we couldn't defend their passing game and they couldn't stop our running attack. I know the teams combined for 52 points in an 8-minute quarter, so it wasn't for the faint of heart," said Hutchinson.
Catholic answered back with a 28 yard touchdown pass and used a conversion pass to take an 8-6 edge, after one quarter.
The Cards totaled 342 yards of offense, on 35 plays with the majority of that coming in the first half. Wayne County grabbed the lead back on their next series capitalized on a Knights' miscue and used Logan Gardner touchdown runs of 62 and 13 yards, to push to a 20-8 lead.
Lexington Catholic responded with scoring passes of 49 and 37 yards, sandwiched around touchdown runs of 47 and 51 yards by Gardner and Wayne County.
"We had a 34-24 lead with a minute to play in the first half, but I really think the heat index combined with our only turnover of the day really turned the momentum. That being said, what a job not only by Logan, but all of our backs ran hard, plus our offensive line set the tone. We were very physical up-front all game long," said Hutchinson.
The Knights used their 4th touchdown pass of the half, a 32 yarder at the horn to close the Wayne County Advantage to 34-32, at halftime.
The teams totaled over 580 yards of offense and 9 touchdowns in the half, as the second half was dominated by defense and fatigue.
Lexington Catholic grabbed only their second lead of the day at the 1:00 mark of the third quarter, on a 3 yard touchdown run.
The conversion run, which rounded-out the scoring fireworks gave the host a 40-34 lead.
The cards had tow more chances to take the lead back, but couldn't muster another score, as a scoreless fourth quarter gave Lexington Catholic 40-34 win.
"This was an excellent day for our football team and I can't say enough about how well our team was treated. It's easy to see why the Bluegrass Bowl is the best middle school event in the state, I just wish we Could've found a way to win, I know our guys tried extremely hard," said Hutchinson.
Wayne County, now 2-1 on the season, opens Big South Fork Conference play this Thursday night at home, against McCreary County Middle. Kickoff for the 7th grade 1 B game is slated for 6 p.m. while the 8th grade contest will start at 7:15 p.m.