Monticello — The Wayne County Cardinals traveled to McKee last Friday night to face

the homestanding Jackson County Generals, in a big district game for both

squads. The Cards were coming off their first win of the season a week

earlier, a 42-22 decision at Casey County and another win in the district

would secure a state playoff appearance. The Generals were 0-6 on the season

and coming off a 56-24 loss at Garrard County, but a win over the Cards

would keep their playoff hopes alive. The contest marked the 3rd meeting

between the two schools, with Wayne County outscoring the Generals 115 to 8

in the previous two, which included a 60-8 win at Jewell Field in 2008.

The Cards scored on six of their first eight possessions, built a 41-0

lead in the third quarter and cruised to a 41-12 road district win. The

winners used 49 plays to total 291 yards of offense and 10 first downs, once

again led by senior runningback D.J. Hall.

Hall used 17 carries to total 192 rushing yards and added 4 touchdowns,

on runs of 13, 14, 63 and 12 yards. The talented stalwart once again

eclipsed the 1,000 yard mark on the season, as Wayne County improved to 2-5

overall and 2-1 in district play.

"I thought we came out a little slow to start with our intensity, but

after a few snaps really picked things up and played well. Our starters had

over 300 yards of offense and our defense forced four turnovers while

holding them to just a couple first downs, through three quarters. Overall I

was proud of our effort for about three periods, but our play in the final

quarter was unacceptable. We had negative yardage and three fumbles late and

our junior varsity can certainly play better than that. We have to play

better than that, that's two weeks in a row our younger guys have

struggled," said Cards head coach Shawn Thompson.

Wayne County was brutal in the fourth quarter, as the squad ran 13 plays

for minus 45 yards, plus had 3 fumbles and a botched punt attempt, which

setup two late Jackson County scores.

"Well the disappointing thing is we play a junior varsity schedule and

some freshman games, so it's not like we don't ever get any game experience.

I'm certainly happy that we got a win and overall played pretty well, but we

need to learn how to finish these things the right way," said Thompson.

Senior quarterback Zack Stephenson totaled 102 yards and 2 touchdowns in

the win. Stephenson rushed 7 times for 40 yards, with a 29 yard scoring run,

plus completed 4 of 6 passes for 62 yards, that included a 36 yard touchdown

strike to Eric Rhule.

"Offensively we made some big plays and the starting unit battled

through some wet field-conditions without a turnover. Zach's pass to Eric

might be the best pass he's ever thrown and D.J. had some big time runs, so

we had some good things to build on. We just need to run things more

consistently, we have too many plays that we are just missing an assignment

here, or there," said Thompson.

Jackson County, which dropped to 0-7 overall and 0-3 in district play,

was no match for the Wayne County defense. The Generals used 42 plays to

total just 59 yards and at halftime had more turnovers (3) than first down

(1).

Freshman defensive back Kyle Gehring, making just his third varsity

start, totaled 2 interceptions and now has 3, in the past two games.

"Defensively we've played pretty well in all of our district games. Kyle

Gehring is one of our young guys that just keeps improving with every snap

of experience. He's a very smart player and reads and reacts very well,"

said Thompson.

Both of the Generals' scores came well after the outcome had been

decided, with less than 3 minutes left in the game. Blake House recovered a

Cardinal fumble in the end zone and junior quarterback Joseph Campos scored

on a 2 yard run, with only :05 left in the ballgame.

"Hopefully our kids gained some confidence the past couple of weeks, but

we know things will be much more difficult this week with Somerset. We just

need to build on the positives, I thought we were able to do some good

things on both sides of the ball at Jackson County," said Thompson.

After a Jackson County three and out series to open the game, the Cards

put together an 11 play, 73 yard scoring drive. D.J. Hall had runs of 30, 1

and -1, before capping the march off with a 13 yard touchdown run, at the

3:31 mark of the first period. The extra-point failed leaving the score 6-0.

A General fumble on the next series, setup the second Wayne County score

of the game. Zack Stephenson connected on third and 11 with Austin Shearer

for 13 yards, which was followed by a D.J. Hall 14 yard scoring run. Eric

Rhule added the conversion run to push the score to 14-0, with 11:14

remaining in the second quarter.

A Kyle Gehring interception stopped Jackson County's next drive and the

Cards scored just two plays later as Stephenson threw a perfect 36 yard

scoring strike to Rhule. Dagan Shelton, making his return to the lineup from

injury, booted the extra-point to push the score to 21-0, with 9:25 left in

the first half.

Jackson County attempted to roll the dice on fourth down and short on

their next series and paid the price, as Josh Collins was stopped a yard

short of the first down, on the hosts own 29 yardline.

"Our defense really gave us some great opportunities in the first half,"

said Thompson.

Zack Stephenson scored on the next play from scrimmage, on a 29 yard

keeper, to push the lead to 27-0, with 7:07 left in the half. The

extra-point pushed the lead to 28-0, which was the halftime score.

The Generals did manage to pickup their only first down of the half,

while the Cards moved the ball inside the Jackson County 40 yardline twice,

but failed to capitalize.

Wayne County opened the third quarter with the football and used just

one play, a D.J. Hall 63 yard stamper, to put the game out of reach. The

extra-point failed, leaving the advantage at 34-0, with 11:45 left in the

third frame.

After another defensive stop the visitors tacked-on their final score of

the night, as Hall ended a 5 play, 59 yard drive with a 12 yard touchdown

run. The Dagan Shelton point-after pushed the league to 41-0, with 4:27 left

in the third period.

"Anytime your the favorite, focus is a big key, but I thought our kids

made the plays needed to make sure we won the game. We also were able to

play a lot of people in a win, which is always a positive," said Thompson.

The Cards had another couple chances to score, but penalties and

turnovers plauged their effort. There fumbles in their final four

possessions, setup two late Jackson County scores, as Wayne County cruised

to the 41-12 win.

A review of the defense stats shows senior linebacker Tyler Pace led the

effort with 10 tackles, while Dustin Dodd and Dagan Shelton added 7 and 6

stops each respectively.

"It was nice to get Dagan back, we certainly have missed him since the

early part of the Monroe County game, so to get him back a big help on both

sides of the ball," said Thompson.

Up next for the Cards is a home date with rival Somerset.

The Briar Jumpers, under the first year direction of coach Robbie Lucas,

are ranked in the top 3 in various class 3A polls and are a perfect 8-0.

"Somerset has a great football team and very deserving of all their

ratings. They have so many offensive weapons and defensively they do a great

job of forcing turnovers, so we know it will take a huge effort. We have

fall break this week, so hopefully we can battle through that, keep our

focus and have a great week of practice," said Thompson.



Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday night at Jewell Field and for a

complete preview of the match up see related story inside this edition of

The Outlook.