By SHANNON HUTCHINSON Sports Writer
CNHI
11-10-10 — The Wayne County Cardinals met border rival Clinton County, last Friday night at Bulldog Field, in the regular season finale for both
teams. The Cards entered with a 4-5 mark, while the Bulldogs were 0-9
and coming off a home loss to Campbellsville. The contest marked the
seventh meeting between the two schools, with Wayne County winning
the previous six, including a 52-0 decision last year at Jewell Field.
Senior running back Devin Sloan eclipsed the 1,000 yard rushing mark
on the season, with 28 carries for 178 yards and totaled a season
best, 4 touchdowns, as Wayne County rolled to a 47-6 win. Sloan
scored on runs of 3, 2, 2 and 6 yards, as Wayne County used 53
rushing attempts to net 313 yards, while improving to 5-5 on the season.
“Anytime a back gets over 1,000 yards on the season that’s a nice
accomplishment, but when you consider Devin is a first year varsity
player and a senior, that’s pretty unique. We wanted him to get the
mark, I know he wanted to get it, but I thought all our guys,
especially the offensive linemen really worked hard. This was another
good team win and we go into the post season winning four of our last
five games, so we’re playing with some confidence,” said Cards head
coach Shawn Thompson.
The Cards totaled 61 plays for 348 yards and totaled 19 first downs,
with 0 turnovers, while the defense made that more than enough.
Clinton County finished with more turnovers (2) than first downs (1)
and totaled 83 yards on 30 plays. The Bulldogs scored late in the
fourth quarter on a Derrick Albertson 70 yard pass to Kylan Asher,
but that was their only offense on the night.
“We played pretty well on both sides of the ball. I thought we lost
our focus from time to time, but overall this was a good way to end
our regular season. We played a lot of people, plus were able to rest
some guys that are still banged up,” said Thompson.
Wayne County wasted little time taking control of the game, as
senior back Travis Pace returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a
touchdown and the rout was on. The extra-point pushed the lead to
7-0, at the 11:45 mark of the first period.
The visitors scored again on their next series, using 7-plays to
travel 66 yards and score on a Devin Sloan 3 yard run. Filip
Hillhammer added the point-after to push the lead to 14-0, with still
8:15 left in the opening frame.
“Anytime your probably a big favorite in a game, I think it’s so
important to come out and play well early. We finally got a big
special teams play with Travis’ kickoff return and then held them and
moved back down and scored again. Momentum is a funny thing, so I’m
glad we grabbed it early,” said Thompson.
The Cards added another score at the end of the quarter, as Sloan
capped-off a 5-play series with a 2 yard touchdown run. The extra-
point pushed the advantage to 21-0, after 12 minutes of play.
Freshman quarterback Tyler Guffey entered the lineup in the second
quarter and on his second series Wayne County used 8 plays, to march
54 yards and score on a Guffey 2 yard keeper. Guffey provided runs of
24 and 8 yards, plus completed an 11 yard pass to Kyle Gehring, to
setup the score. The point-after pushed the score to 28-0, with 4:07
left in the first half.
Clinton County fumbled away the kickoff return, which was recovered
by Daniel Marcum and gave the Cards the football on the Bulldogs’ 17
yard line.
Five plays later, Devin Sloan punched it in from 2 yards out and
Wayne County rolled to 35-0 halftime advantage.
The Bulldogs opened the second half with the football, but just like
their previous five first half possessions couldn’t move the chains
for a first down and were forced to punt.
Wayne County continued the rout on their opening series, staying on
the ground for all 6 plays and totaling 56 yards, scoring on Sloan’s
fourth touchdown of the night, a 6 yard run. The kick failed, leaving
the score 41-0 with 7:50 left in the third period.
Clinton County did produce their only first down of the night on the
next series, but that was it and they punted the ball back to the
Cards, as the squad fielded the punt on their own 20 yard line.
Sloan netted carries 15, 6, 4, 13, and 7 yards on the march, to move
over 1,000 yards on the season, before Wayne County’s reserves
dominated the rest of the contest. The 11-play, 80 yard drive was
capped off by a Jr. Ruiz 5 yard touchdown run, to push the score to
47-0, at the 11:52 mark of the final quarter.
The mercy clock rolled from that point on and Clinton County did
manage the final score of the game, as back up quarterback Derrick
Albertson connected with Kylan Asher for a 70 yard touchdown
completion, with 5:56 left in the contest.
Wayne County stayed on the ground the rest of the night and picked
up 2 first downs, to run out the clock and cruise to the 47-6 win.
“Our new season starts now. We had some chances just slip away
during the regular season, but we did battle back to finish 5-5 and
advance to the post season. In the tie breaker format with Casey and
Garrard we drop to the four seed and go to Breathitt County. We were
there last year, so we do know a little about them and their
facilities. We are all 0-0 at this point, so we just have to go back
to work and have a very focused week of practice,” said Cards head
coach Shawn Thompson.
Breathitt County finished the season, 6-4, but earned the number one
seed with district wins over Estill County, Powell County and
Magoffin County.
“Coach Mike Holcomb is one of the best coaches in the state and
Breathitt County has all kinds of tradition, so we know it will be a
big challenge, but this is what you work for all season long,” said
Thompson.
For a complete preview see related story inside this edition of The
Outlook.
Wayne County opens 3A state playoffs at Breathitt Co.