Monticello — The Wayne County Cardinals hosted border rival Clinton County, last

Friday night at Jewell Field, in the regular season finale for both teams.

The Cards entered with a 3-6 mark and were coming off an impressive 14-7

home district win over Taylor County, while Clinton County owned a 2-7

record. The contest was Senior Night and Homecoming on the 2009 schedule, as

the match up marked the 6th meeting between the teams, with Cards winning

the previous five games, including a 49-20 decision in 2008 at Bulldog

Field.

Wayne County has 12 seniors on the roster and they made the most of

their final game at Jewell Field, as the group paced the Cards to an easy

52-0 win. D.J. Hall rushed for 150 yards and 3 touchdowns, on 17 attempts,

while Zach Stephenson netted a season best 107 rushing yards on only 7

carries, with scores of 45 and 25 yards, as the hosts scored on their

opening 6 drives, to finish the regular season 4-6.

Eric Rhule added 46 rushing yards and touchdown runs of 20 and 2 yards,

plus Jacob Gregory scored on a 1 yard plunge, as seniors scored all 8 Wayne

County touchdowns.

"This has been a very good group of kids and I was happy we could make

their final home game a special one. As a team we played pretty well on both

sides of the ball and coming off such a tough district game, I thought we

might come out a little flat, but that wasn't the case at all. Our offense

made some big plays early to get us rolling and then we forced some

turnovers, which just added to the momentum," said Cards head coach Shawn

Thompson.

Wayne County totaled 435 yards, on 52 plays with 17 first downs and the

squad never punted, while finishing with 0 turnovers.

"This was a good team effort and to head into the playoffs with four

wins in our last five games, hopefully we're playing our best football at

the right time," said Thompson.

Clinton County, which had their season end at 2-8, struggled to stop the

Cards on defense and move the ball on offense. The Bulldogs had more

turnovers (5) than first downs (4) and used 32 plays to total 54 yards, with

46 of those yards on a Harley Brown run.

Brown finished with 9 carries for 59 yards, while quarterback Matt

Staton and running back Gavin McWhorter combined to rush 13 times for minus

17 yards.

"Defensively we were very active and as a unit I thought we played with

good intensity controlling the line of scrimmage. The last five games I

really like the way we've played more physical and aggressive, but that will

certainly be tested this week at a very good Breathitt County," said

Thompson.

Dustin Dodd and Eric Rhule led the defense with 10 and 8 tackles each,

while the squad totaled 8 tackles for loss with 3 quarterback sacks.

Wayne County opened the game on defense and forced a quick punt, which

against a fierce wind netted only 2 yards and quickly put the Cards offense

in business.

D.J. Hall scored on the first play from scrimmage on a 27 yard touchdown

run and Dagan Shelton added the extra-point to leave the score 7-0, with

9:42 left in the first quarter.

The Cards once again forced the Bulldogs to punt and setup their longest

scoring drive of the game. Wayne County used 3 plays to march 73 yards and

scored on a Zach Stephenson 45 yard keeper. The point-after pushed the lead

to 14-0 with 5:43 left in the opening period.

"Zach had his best night running the ball of the season," said Thompson.

A Dagan Shelton interception on the next Clinton County possession,

setup the next Cardinal score. The Cards used 3 plays to travel 28 yards and

scored on an Eric Rhule 20 yard run. The extra-point failed, leaving the

score 20-0 with 1:26 left in the first frame.

Wayne County scored on all three drives in the second quarter and put

the game out of reach, before intermission. Zach Stephenson capped off a 72

yard, 4-play march with a 25 yard touchdown run at the 10:01 mark of the

second quarter, D.J. Hall ended a 9-play, 56 yard drive with a 6 yard

scoring run and Eric Rhule finished off a 3 play, 36 yard series with a 2

yard touchdown run, with only 10 seconds left in the first half.

The Cards missed two extra-points and had a conversion run attempt fail,

which left the halftime score 38-0.

"Anytime your the favorite being upset is a big concern, but I thought

our guys played with a lot of focus. We had some big plays early and I think

things snowballed from that," said Thompson.

Wayne County scored both times they had the football in the third

period, on drives of 65 and 53 yards. Hall scored on a 1 yard run at the

6:24 mark and Jacob Gregory made the most of his only varsity career

attempt, with a 1 yard touchdown run, at the 2:37 point of the quarter.

The last score pushed the lead to 50-0 and meant running clock the rest

of the way, as the Cards were able to empty the sideline and play some

younger players.

"Homecoming is always a special time, so it was nice to get a big win

and allow everybody to get some varsity playing time. We certainly didn't

want to get anybody hurt with the game out of reach, with the playoffs this

week, plus it's nice to reward our younger guys," said Thompson.

The fourth quarter had only one score, but it was maybe one of the more

unique scores in Cardinal football history.

Clinton County was attempting to punt near their own goal line against a

very tough wind, the punt started downfield but the wind carried it back

into their own end zone for a negative 5 yard punt and safety.

The safety pushed the Cards lead to 52-0 and allowed Wayne County the

football back, to run out the clock, which the offense did 5 plays later.

Up next for the Cards is an opening round playoff date at last year's

Class 3A State Runner-up Breathitt County. The Cats are just 5-5 this year,

but are led by University of Tennessee commitment Channing Fugate.

"We have a huge challenge facing one of the most physical and athletic

running backs in the state, in the Fugate kid. He's a SEC caliber of recruit

for a reason, watching him on film what can I say, he's one heck of a high

school football player," said Thompson.

Breathitt County, like Wayne County, started the season slow with a 1-5

record, but Mike Halcomb's squad has rolled to four straight wins, in

impressive fashion.



"Breathitt County has as much tradition as anyone in eastern Kentucky

and Coach Holcomb has them playing their best football of the season at the

right time. They battled through some early injuries, but look at the teams

they lost to as well, their record is no indication at all of the type of

team we'll see Friday night. We need a good week of practice with a lot of

focus on the details. We're excited to be in the post-season and look

forward to the challenge," said Thompson.

Details on the matchup in a related story inside this Outlook.