Shannon Hutchinson, Sports Writer
Monticello — The Wayne County Cardinals traveled to Breathitt County last Friday
night to meet the homestanding Bobcats, in the opening round of the Class 3A
state playoffs. The Cards entered with a 4-6 mark in the regular season and
were coming off an impressive 52-0 win over Clinton County. Breathitt
County, the number one seed in their district, owned a 5-5 record and was
coming off a 1-0 forfeit over Magoffin County two weeks earlier, followed by
an open week. The contest, at Mike Holcomb Stadium, marked the first ever
meeting between the two schools.
University of Tennessee recruit Channing Fugate rushed 21 times for 120
yards and scored two first quarter touchdowns, on runs of 68 and 8 yards, as
Breathitt County built an early 12-0 lead, en route to cruising to a 26-0
win. The Bobcats totaled 396 yards of offense and 15 first downs, while
holding Wayne County to a season low 105 yards of offense.
Breathitt County senior quarterback Jade Haddix completed 13 of 18
passes for 134 yards with 2 touchdowns, plus rushed 10 times for 92 yards,
as the winners improved to 6-5 on the season.
"Breathitt County has a nice team and we just struggled to move the
football all night. We had trouble blocking and picking up their blitzes on
offense, while our defense did a pretty decent job on Fugate after the first
quarter. The problem with keying on Channing Fugate is that frees up Jade
Haddix and he's a big time player. Haddix made some very nice throws, but he
really hurt us on some keepers," said Cards head coach Shawn Thompson.
Freshman back Richard Trent added a game best 5 receptions for 54 yards,
that included a 27 yard scoring reception and tallied 5 rushes for 47 yards,
to total 101 yards of offense.
"Breathitt County has some very nice offensive weapons and it all starts
with Fugate, but they have several guys that can play at the next level. I
think we came out a little rattled to start the game, possibly the big
stadium, or facing a team that was in the state championship game last year,
but for whatever reason we didn't have the type of intensity needed to start
the game," said Thompson.
The Cards totaled 46 plays that produced 105 yards and just 6 first
downs. D.J. Hall paced the attack with 13 carries for 38 yards, plus added a
team best 3 catches for 8 yards. Zack Stephenson totaled 13 rushes for 24
yards and completed 5 of 17 passes for 31 yards with an interception, as
Wayne County was shutout for the third time this season.
"We just couldn't answer their defense and tried a lot of different
things that we put in just for this game. We struggled to run, or pass the
ball and when that happens it's a long night for the offense. Our kids
played hard and I'm proud of that, just give Breathitt County credit," said
Thompson.
The Bobcats opened with the football and after a penalty on the first
play from scrimmage, Channing Fugate showed why he will play at Tennessee
with a 68 yard touchdown run. The extra-point failed, leaving the score 6-0
with 11:42 left in the first quarter.
Wayne County turned the ball over on their second offensive play of the
game, as Cory Shouse intercepted a Cardinal pass attempt at the Cards 35
yardline.
The Bobcats used 6 plays, all on the ground to score and push the lead
to 12-0. Fugate had runs of 5, 6 and 2 yards, before scoring from 8 yards
out, to give the hosts two scores less than 4 minutes into the game.
"We knew we would have to play well to go to their place and win, so to
be down two touchdowns so early was very disappointing. Defensively, we
didn't play very aggressive early and they made us pay," said Thompson.
Wayne County failed to gain a first down in the opening period, while
Breathitt County dominated the yardage battle with a 191 to 8 advantage, but
the Cards trailed just 12-0, at the end of the first quarter.
"Considering how much they had the ball, I guess we were fortunate to
just be down 12-0. After their first few series, I thought our defense
settled down a bit and played better," said Thompson.
The Bobcats added to their lead on the opening possession of the second
period on a Jade Haddix 18 yard touchdown pass to Zack Epperson. The score
capped-off a 4-play, 61 yard march and the Billy Davis extra-point pushed
the margin to 15-0, with 10:42 remaining in the first half.
The Cards responded with a little trickery on their next possession,
using the swinging gate formation to get a first down, but a fumble on a
pass completion stopped the drive near mid-field.
Breathitt County committed both of their turnovers in the second
quarter, but Wayne County couldn't turn the miscues into points.
The Cards turned the ball over on downs at the Breathitt County 15 yard
late in the half and then had another chance after recovering a fumble at
the Bobcats 37 yardline. Wayne moved the ball inside the 10 yardline, but
the drive stalled with a penalty and three incompletions, then a Dagan
Shelton field goal attempt from 31 yards was short, to end the half.
Breathitt County returned the field goal all the way back for an
apparent touchdown, but penalties negated the return to leave the halftime
score at 19-0.
"I thought we had two great opportunities before the half to put some
points on the board. If we find a way to score either, or both of those
times it would've made things interesting, but we didn't. That has plauged
us in several games we lost this year, our inability to finish off drives. A
block, a catch, a pass or not getting a penalty, little things like any of
those can be the difference in scoring," said Thompson.
The Bobcats hold Wayne County without a first down in the third frame
and put the game out of reach on their opening series of the second half.
Breathitt County used 7 plays to travel 52 yards and score on their only
pass of the possession, a Jade Haddix 27 yard scoring strike to Richard
Trent. Billy Davis booted the point-after to push the lead to 26-0 with 7:15
left in the third.
Neither team would threaten to score again until the Bobcats used 10
plays to move all the way to the Wayne County 5 yardline, with under 3
minutes remaining in the game. The Cardinal defense refused to allow the
Breathitt County reserves a score and stuffed a forth down run, short of the
first down.
The Cards managed a first down but the clock ran out on the game, with
the host claiming a 26-0 opening round win.
Wayne County's season ended up at 4-7 and the lost also marks the end of
the prep football careers for 13 seniors.
"This wasn't the year we had hoped for, but I'm proud the way our kids
battled back from such a rough start. I appreciate their commitment and all
of their hard work, we certainly appreciate their efforts. We'll miss those
guys, but 2010 will be here before you know it, so we'll go back to work
soon," said Thompson.