9-29-10 —     The Wayne County Cardinals hosted Garrard County last Friday night at Jewell Field, in the district opener for both teams. The Cards  

entered with a 1-3 record coming off a 56-27 home loss to Russell  County, while the Golden Lions were 1-3 and coming off an open week.  

Garrard County entered the 20th meeting between the two schools with  a 10-9 series advantage, after claiming a 21-14 win in 2009.

    Garrard County junior halfback Markell Hayes rushed 8 times for a 

career high 209 yards, plus totaled 5 touchdowns, as the Lions  

totaled 586 yards of offense, en route to a 55-39 win. Hayes scored  

on runs of 61, 60, 48 and 31 yards, plus teamed with quarterback  

Billy Abney on a 45 yard touchdown pass, as the winners netted 12  

offensive plays over 15 yards.

    Abney, a 6-0 sophomore, connected on 11 of 17 pass attempts for 253 

yards, with 3 touchdowns, against 1 interceptions. Abney's touchdown  

pass to Hayes was his shortest of the night as they signal-caller  

connected with Dillon Lane for 83 yards and also added a 51 yard  

scoring strike to Tyler McCoy.

    McCoy led all receivers with 6 receptions for 124 yards, while 

junior running back Cory Wilson added 13 rushes for 102 yards and a  

score, as Garrard County sliced the Wayne County defense, after a  

scoreless first quarter.

    "Without question the most disappointing effort that I've ever been 

a part of as a coach. It's very frustrating to play the way we did,  

when I know we are capable of playing so much better. We have to  

change a lot of things if we want better results, but it all starts  

with our effort," said Cards head coach Shawn Thompson.

    Wayne County, which dropped to 1-4, used 62 plays to total a season 

high 444 yards of offense and 17 first downs. The offense rushed 52  

times for 339 yards, led by junior quarterback Shawn Dishman.

    Dishman rushed a career high 28 times for 102 yards, while scoring 

on runs of 2, 7 and 10 yards, plus completed 5 of 8 passes for 102  

yards.

    Senior running back Travis Pace added 96 rushing yards on 9 

attempts, while classmate Devin Sloan tallied 6 carries for 60 yards,  

as seven different Cardinals carried the ball in the loss.

    Wayne County dominated the first quarter and had great field-

position on both possessions, but their opening series stalled on the  

visitors 22 yard line and next series ended with a Filip Hillhammar  

26 yard field goal, at the 1:04 mark of the first period.

    Garrard County managed just 1 first down in the opening quarter, as 

Wayne County owned a 3-0 advantage.

    The Cards added to their lead on the opening drive of the second 

period, as a Shawn Dishman 2 yard touchdown run capped-off a 5-play  

39 yard march. The extra-point pushed the lead to 10-0, with 10:28  

left in the first half.

    The Golden Lions converted on a third and 13 situation on their next 

series, which set up a Markell Hayes 60 yard touchdown run. Billy  

Abney booted the point-after to close the Cards lead to 10-7, with  

8:29 left in the half.

    Wayne County's first fumble of the game gave Garrard County their 

first lead of the night. The visitors used just 2 plays, a Cory  

Wilson 29 yard run followed by Hayes' second score of the quarter, on  

a 31 yard run. The extra-point gave the Lions a 14-10 lead, with 7:41  

left in the period.

    Wayne County answered right back with a 4-play, 59 yard drive, 

capped-off by a Shawn Dishman 7 yard run. The big play of the series  

was a Travis Pace 29 yard run, as the Filip Hillhammar kick gave the  

Cards a 17-14 edge with 6:17 left in the opening half.

    After the teams traded empty possessions, Garrard County used the 

passing of Billy Abney to retake the lead. Abney had completions of 4  

and 5 yards, before a quick screen to Markell Hayes rolled for 45  

yards and a score, on the last play of the half. The extra-point gave  

the visitors a 21-17 halftime lead and all the momentum heading into  

the final 24 minutes.

    The Golden Lions opened the third period with the football and used 

7 plays to travel 73 yards and score on an Abney 51 yard strike to  

Tyler McCoy. The point after pushed the Garrard County advantage to  

28-17, at the 8:39 mark of the frame.

    Garrard added to their lead on their next series, as Billy Abney 

connected with Dillon Lane for an 83 yard touchdown. The kick gave  

the Lions their largest lead of the game, at 35-17 with still 6-

minutes left in the third quarter.

    Wayne County battled back with a 9 play, 63 yard march that ended 

with a Shawn Dishman 10 yard run. The key play of the drive was a  

Dishman 21 yard completion to sophomore wideout Kyle Gehring. The  

Hillhammar kick closed the gap to 35-24, with 1:54 left in the period.

    Garrard County and Markell Hayes put the game out of reach, with two 

big scoring plays sandwiched around a stalled Cardinal offensive  

drive. Hayes scored on touchdown runs of 61 and 48 yards, the last  

coming at the 8:38 mark of the fourth quarter, which pushed the Lions  

to a 49-24 advantage.

    The squad wasn't done and used Wayne County's second turnover of the 

contest to set up their final score.

    Wayne County fumbled away the kickoff and Garrard County used 4 

plays to race 39 yards and score on a Cory Wilson 6 yard run, to push  

the score to 55-24, with 7:04 left in the game.

    The Cards added a couple of scores late as Devin Sloan punched in a 

29 yard touchdown run and Tylor Lair scored on a 5 yard run, with :39  

left in the contest. Freshman quarterback Tyler Guffey connected with  

David Crabtree on the conversion pass, which left the final score 55-39.

    Up next for the Cards is a Friday night homecoming date with 

district foe Casey County. The Rebels are 4-2 on the season and  

outside of Somerset, easily have the most impressive pre-district  

resume.

    "Coach Stephens really has their kids believing in what they're 

doing and Casey County is a very physical football team. Our effort  

and intensity will have to match theirs, or it will be another tough  

night," said Thompson.

    Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday night, as the Class of 1991 

which includes Coach Thompson, will be welcomed back to Jewell Field.

    "We always want to play well, especially on Homecoming with our 

alumni coming back, but Casey County has a nice team. I do know the  

reunion after the game will be a lot better if we play well and win,"  

said Thompson.

    Details on the match-up in a related story inside this edition of 

The Outlook.