Monticello — The Wayne County Cardinals, 0-4 on the season coming off a 50-34 loss at

Russell County, open district play this Friday night at Garrard County. The

Golden Lions, under the second year direction of head coach Mark Scenters,

own a 1-3 record and are coming off an open week.

The contest marks the 19th meeting between the schools and the all-time

series is tied at 9-9. The Cards have won four of the past five in the

rivalry, including a 33-12 decision last October at Jewell Field.

The Golden Lions have certainly been the tough luck team of the district

in the early season. The squad was blasted in their opener 47-10 at the

hands of Anderson County, but since then have played very competitive

football.

Garrard County defeated Rowan County 41-35 in week two, but lost to West

Jessamine 14-13 and Estill County 42-41 in back to back weeks.

"Garrard County is just a couple of plays from being 3-1, so we know

they have a good football team. They have one of the top seniors in the

state Tyler Ray and Fred Hayes also is a three year starter in the

backfield, so they have some very good offensive weapons," said Cards head

coach Shawn Thompson.

Ray lines up as a wide receiver, but leads the team in rushing and total

yards. Ray paces a balanced backfield with 311 rushing yards on 35 attempts,

with 2 scores and also has a team best 12 receptions for 149 yards, with a

touchdown.

"Tyler Ray is a big time athlete and offensively they do a nice job of

getting him as many touches as possible. We have to be aware of where he is

at all times. He's got big time speed in the open field," said Thompson.

Fred Hayes teams with sophomore Cory Wilson to give the runningback a

solid one-two punch. Hayes has 195 yards on 36 attempts with 3 touchdowns,

while Wilson leads all rushes with 4 touchdowns and has 252 rushing yards,

on 51 attempts.

Garrard County averages just over 26 points per game and 277 yards of

offense, with 213 of that on the ground. The Cards will look to sure up a

defense that was touched for 537 yards in last week's loss at Russell

County.

"We have some guys banged up and have been moving some guys around, but

we need to tackle better and swarm the football as a unit. It all starts

with winning the battle on the line of scrimmage and this week will be no

different," said Thompson.

One new face in the Golden Lions offensive backfield is freshman

quarterback Billy Abney. Abney has completed 23 of 52 passes for 256 yards

and has 1 touchdown, against 5 interceptions.

Wayne County is coming off their best offensive performance of the

season, but much of that was in the first half. The Cards rushed for 369

yards on 42 attempts and totaled a season high 433 yards of offense, but

were plauged by 4 second half turnovers.

"In the first half against Russell County, I thought our offense played

extremely well. We came off the football and blocked pretty well, we just

have to take better care of the ball," said Thompson.

D.J. Hall scored 3 touchdowns and rushed for a season best 182 yards on

18 attempts, while Zack Stephenson totaled 154 yards on 17 carries.

Stephenson completed 4 of 14 passes for 64 yards, which included an 8

yard touchdown pass to Eric Rhule. The Cards face a Garrard County defense

that allows 34.5 points per game and allows 398 yards per outing, with 331

of that on the ground.

Garrard County has a good group of linebackers, led by sophomore Brett

Dowell. Dowell has a team best 41 tackles with an interception, while fellow

sophomore Austin Napier is second on the squad with 29 total stops. Seniors

Fred Hayes and Zach Hounshell have 28 and 26 tackles each and provide the

unit with experience.

"Coach Scenters is now in his second year so I'm sure they are much more

comfortable and have a better understanding of his system. They play very

aggressive on defense and as a unit they really swarm the ball well," said

Thompson.

Wayne County enters district play winless for the first time in a long

time, but after Somerset the rest of the district appears down.

"The good thing is everybody enters district 0-0 and we still have a

chance to do some very good things as a team. We want to compete for

district titles and even though we've had a tough start, we can forget about

that real quick with a good district season. Somerset appears the strong

favorite, but after that it looks like another year of some wild games,"

said Thompson.

The Golden Lions were picked as one of the favorites in the district in

the preseason and through four games that appears to be correct.

"Garrard County has a good football team and we'll have to go up there

and play well. We're still looking to put together four quarters of good

solid football. We have to go hard, be focused and eliminate our turnovers,"

said Thompson.

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