Monticello — The Wayne County Cardinals met Taylor County, last Thursday night at

Jewell Field, in an important district contest for both teams. The local

Cards entered with a 2-5 mark overall, with a 2-2 district mark and could

clinch a state playoff berth outright, with a win. Taylor County owned a 3-1

district tally with a 4-5 record overall and would clinch the number two

seed, with a win. The match up marked the 13th meeting between the two

schools, with Wayne County owning a five game winning streak in the series

to hold a 9-3 edge, including a 41-36 decision, at Taylor County in 2008.

Senior quarterback Zack Stephenson completed 8 of 13 passes for 80 yards

and passed for touchdowns of 36 and 10 yards, on 15 carries, as the hosts

used 46 plays to total 247 yards, with 11 first downs to improve to 3-6 on

the season.

D.J. Hall tallied a game best 112 rushing yards, on 17 attempts, as the

senior offensive back pushed his season total to 1,242 yards on the year.

"This was a very good football game between two teams that both had so

much to play for. We could assure ourselves of a playoff berth and they

wanted a home playoff game, so I thought both teams played extremely hard.

Offensively we left some points on the field, but I can't say enough about

how well our defense has played in district games. As a coach and a fan of

defense, I thought this game was a lot more exciting than last year's wild

game. Both teams battled hard, so I'm very proud of our guys, but give

Taylor County credit, they have a good football team," said Cards head coach

Shawn Thompson.

Wayne County's last seven wins over Taylor County have been by a

touchdown, or less.

I can't explain that, but I know every time we play it's an all out

battle. Both teams are usually pretty evenly matched, I'm just glad we're on

the winning side of that streak," said Thompson.

Taylor County which dropped to 4-6, was held to just 164 total yards, on

61 plays, with 13 first downs. Running back Cody Newton totaled over 200

rushing yards in their 26-12 win over Garrard County a week earlier, but was

held in check most of the game and totaled 51 rushing yards, on 23 attempts,

with a 1 yard touchdown run.

"Newton really looked good on film against Garrard County and we knew

they could be dangerous with both the run and pass. I was proud of our

defensive effort and thought we also played the pass pretty well," said

Thompson.

Senior quarterback Lance Turpin completed 13 of 23 passes for 81 yards

and added 9 rushes for 17 yards, as Taylor County finished the night with 0

turnovers.

"Turpin is an excellent athlete and has so much experience, we struggled

to bring him down in the open field," said Thompson.

After the teams traded punts, without gaining a first down, Wayne County

put things together on their second offensive series.

The Cards used 12 plays to march 84 yards and scored on their longest

play from scrimmage, a Zack Stephenson 36 yard dart to Eric Rhule. The

extra-point failed, leaving Wayne County with a 6-0 lead with 3:22 left in

the first quarter.

Taylor County answered back with an impressive 15 play, 65 yard march of

their own, capped off by a Cody Newton 1 yard scoring plunge. The senior

back had runs of 2, 11, -2, 7, 0, 1, 2 and 1 on the drive. Tim Giessier

booted the point-after to give Taylor a 7-6 edge, with 9:42 left in the

second period.

Wayne County appeared ready to retake the lead after D.J. Hall returned

a kickoff 65 yards, to the visitors 35 yardline, but after a Hall run of 16

yards, the drive soon stalled at the 14 yardline.

"That was a blown scoring opportunity after a big return and great

field-position. I thought our special teams play was improved, as both of

our return units gave us pretty good field-position. We fielded some punts

in this game, so hopefully that's an area that we'll continue to improve

in," said Thompson.

The Wayne County defense forced a quick punt and the offense this time

made the most of field position at the Taylor County 49 yardline.

Zack Stephenson completed a 17 yard pass to Dustin Dodd and D.J. Hall

added a 19 yard run, which both helped setup a Stephenson 10 yard touchdown

pass to Austin Shearer. The 5 play, 49 yard series was punctuated by

Stephenson's 2-point conversion pass to Ryan Hopper, which pushed Wayne's

lead to 14-7 with 3:21 left in the first half.

"I'm not sure the last time we won a game without a rushing touchdown,

but to beat good football teams we can't just rely on any one thing," said

Thompson.

The away Redbirds forced the only turnover of the night with under a

minute to play in the half, on a fumble, but the half ended with the ball at

the Wayne County 22 yardline.

Taylor County opened the second half with the football and Blake Dudgeon

returned the kickoff 94 yards for an apparent score, but a penalty moved the

football back to the hosts 35 yardline. Taylor used 8 plays to move inside

the 10 yardline, but a Tim Giessier 25 yard field goal attempt was blocked

by senior linebacker Jacob Gregory.

"That was a big momentum play, after we gave up a long kick return.

Jacob broke through and made a great block," said Thompson.

The Cards best drive of the second half followed, but after 8-plays

produced 53 yards the march stopped at the Redbirds 30 yardline.

"We weren't as sharp offensively and could've put some more points on

the board, but we also have to give Taylor County credit. They are pretty

big and strong up-front, plus their linebackers swarmed the ball pretty

well," said Thompson.

The teams traded punts the next four possessions, before Taylor County

had one final chance to tie, on their last series of the game. The Redbirds

enjoyed the ball at the Wayne County 28 yardline after a short punt, but

couldn't move the chains and turned the ball over on downs.

Wayne County used the running of Hall and Stephenson to pickup two first

downs and run the clock out, claiming a 14-7 hard-fought district win.

"This was a big win for our kids and I'm so happy for them. This has

been a tough season, but they never quit and we have a chance with a win

this Friday to go into the playoffs winning four of our last five games,"

said Thompson.

The Cards still do not know who and where they will play in the opening

round of the state playoffs, but they certainly need to win this Friday's

regular season finale against Clinton County.

"The only thing we can control at this point is our effort against an

improved Clinton County team. Defensively they are very solid, plus we

always get their best shot. We just have to play focused and intense

football. Homecoming is a great time, but we can't allow all the hoopla that

comes with it to take away from our game preparation," said Thompson.

Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. at Jewell Field and for a complete preview of

the matchup see related story inside this edition of The Outlook.