9-8-10 —  The Wayne County Cardinals, 0-1 on the season and coming off an open date, travel to Rockcastle County this Friday night to face the home standing Rockets.

    The Cards opened their season two weeks ago, with a 35-7 loss at #3 ranked Monroe County.

    Rockcastle County opened their season last Saturday night with a 40-0 loss to Danville, in the Bob Allen Pigskin Classic.

    "I think two teams should be very hungry come Friday night. Rockcastle County was hurt by some turnovers in their game against Danville, but we were hurt by the big play at Monroe County, so I think both squads will be ready to go. The last three times we played Rockcastle County, we've not scored an offensive touchdown, so showing up ready to match their physical style and intensity will be big keys," said Cards head coach Shawn Thompson.

    The Rockets, which base out of the Power-I on offense, are led by junior running back Clark Rowe. Rowe, a 2,000 yard rusher in 2009, rushed 21 times for 47 yards last week and is a key player on Rockcastle County's offense.

    "Rowe is a different style of runner from anybody that Monroe County had, in that he's more of a hard-nosed, power back, but he's also got great speed. Defensively we have to be aggressive and swarm the ball as a unit, plus our intensity on the line of scrimmage will be key," said Thompson.

    This marks the fourth straight season the teams have met with Rock winning the previous three by scores of 34-0, 30-6, and 35-0.

    "We have not showed up and played the way I think we're capable of in any of those games. In ‘07 and ‘08 those teams were really good football teams, but for whatever the reason we just didn't play very well. We have to play our game and not come out shell-shocked, but ready to go hard for 48-minutes," said Thompson.

    The Cards offense, which totaled just over 200 yards at Monroe County will face a Rockcastle County defense that bases out of 50 look, led by senior linebacker John L. Saylor. Saylor totaled 6 tackles against Danville and is also an offensive threat out of the backfield.

    "They play typical Rockcastle  aggressive and swarming defense. Saylor is a good hard-nosed linebacker and the Rowe kid also plays on both sides of the ball. Rowe is listed as a safety, but they move him all over the field, we just have to block our assignments and take care of the football," said Thompson.

    Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday night at Rocket Stadium.

    "We need to finish off our offensive drives, take care of the football and all of that good stuff, but it comes down to playing physical while matching their intensity. We have to bring it for 48 minutes," said Thompson.

    Details on the match up in the next week's edition of The Outlook.