9-12-12 — The Wayne County Cardinals hosted Class 5A North Laurel on Friday  night, August 31 at Jewell Field in the match-up of 2-0 squads.

    The Cards forced the running clock in blowout wins over Clinton  County, 52-6 and Estill County 54-8, while the Jaguars bested  Pineville, 42-20 and Campbellsville, 40-7 in their opening two games.

    Wayne County entered the sixth match-up between the schools with a  4-1 series advantage, including a 28-25 overtime decision at North in  2011.

    Wayne County scored a touchdown in every quarter en route to an  impressive 27-7 home win, as the winners used 59 plays to total 346  yards and a season best 20 first downs. Junior quarterback Tyler  

Guffey rushed 18 times for 105 yards and completed 7 of 18 passes for  104 yards with a touchdown, as four different Cards scored in the win.

    "This was another good effort on both sides of the ball and I think  a lot of credit starts with the job of our defensive line. We won the  battle on the line of scrimmage and held North Laurel in check most  of the night. We ran the ball really well and rushed for over 240  

yards, which is something we must do to be a good football team.  

Tyler and D'Vantae both had big rushing games," said Cards head coach  

Shawn Thompson.

    D'Vantae Dixon added a career best 94 rushing yards on 10 carries  

and Logan Gardner added 2 catches for 52 yards, as four different  receivers had receptions in the win.

    "Our offense is showing signs of clicking, but we are not there yet.  Our passing game was better, but we still have some route problems,  not being where we are supposed to be, plus our timing is not in  sync. This game was a step in the right direction," said Thompson.

    North Laurel, which dropped to 2-1, used 48 plays to total 212 yards  and 9 first downs, led by Junior quarterback Michael Nelson. Nelson  rushed 17 times for 77 yards and fellow junior Gabe Blair added 45  yards on 13 attempts, as the Jaguars were limited to 123 rushing  yards on 31 carries.

    "Nelson and Blair were both big keys in their offense and I thought  we defended their rushing attack pretty well. They are going to get  some yards, but didn't beat us with the big play, so I'm proud of our  defensive effort," said Thompson.

    The Jaguars lone score of the contest came with under three minutes  to play as Hagan Hodges connected on a 68 yard scoring pass to Jake  McFadden, well after the outcome was decided.

    "Our kids played well enough to get a shutout and I'm pretty sure  the officials missed a block in the back penalty, but the main thing  is we won. Offensively we kind of ran out of gas in the second  quarter and had to battle through it. This was the first time our  starters were forced to play extended minutes and I really think it  took us some time to get our wind and legs back. North Laurel plays  hard and is extremely physical, so this game was a very good game for  our football team," said Thompson.

    Sophomore linebacker Joe Pierce recorded 2 interceptions on the  night, the first set up Wayne County's opening score.

    The Cards used 9 plays to march 49 yards and score on a Cody Rhule1 yard touchdown run. Jr. Ruiz booted the extra point to give the  hosts a 7-0 lead with 6:38 left in the first quarter.

    Wayne County scored again on the opening play of the second period,  as James Barnes capped off a 56 yard march with a two yard touchdown  run.

    Neither team would score again in the half, as Wayne County held a 14-0 half-time advantage.

    The Cards added the only score of the third quarter on a Tyler  

Guffey 10 yard strike to senior tight end Dagan Shelton. The score  

capped off a 10 play drive and Jr. Ruiz booted the point after to  

push the score to 21-0, with :27 left in the period.

    Wayne County scored again on their next drive as D'Vantae Dixson set  

up the score with runs of 9, 12, 17 and 4 yards before Jr. Ruiz raced  

in from 9 yards out. The kick was blocked, leaving the score 27-0  

with 7:45 left in regulation.

    "We were able to do some good things offensively and were in a pretty

good rhythm late in the second half. This was a good test for our  

football team and it was a game that we should be able to build on.  

Last year we played many of these same kids in an overtime that could  

have gone either way, so we can be proud of our effort," said Thompson.

    A review of the defensive stats credit junior defensive back Chris Clem

with a game high 9 tackles, while the trio of Dagan Shelton, Jr. Ruiz  

and Joe Pierce all finished with 7 stops each.

    Pierce added 2 interceptions, while Lance Humble tallied 4 tackles  

with a fumble recovery, as the unit forced 3 turnovers.

    Up next for the Cards was a Friday night road trip to Class 5A foe  

Madison Southern. Details on that contest in a related story inside  

this edition of The Outlook.