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Wayne County to host Knox Central in 2004 Homecoming game Shannon Hutchison Sports Writer By SHANNON HUTCHINSON Sports Writer The Wayne County Cardinals, 2-2 on the season and coming off a 38-14 loss at South Laurel, host Knox Central this Friday night at Jewell Field. The contest is slated as Homecoming on the 2004 schedule and features one of the area’s most improved squads in Knox Central. The game marks the 11th meeting between the two schools. The Panthers, under the direction of first year head coach Wayne Mills, are 2-2 on the season and coming off 7-6 loss to undefeated Harlan (3-0). Mills, a longtime assistant coach at 3A power Bell County, has Central playing their best football in several years. “Coach Mills has their kids believing in what they’re doing and Knox Central is a lot like us, in the fact they have a new head coach and new system. Knox Central always had good athletes, so we certainly have our hands full,” said Wayne County head coach Shawn Thompson. The Panthers are averaging 15.7 points per game offensively and netted a season high 27 points, two weeks ago in a 27-12 win at Cawood. Knox Central’s two wins have both occurred on the road at Evarts and Cawood. Knox Central will run a ball-control offense using both the I and Wishbone formations. “We missed 23 tackles last week and if that happens again this week Knox Central will run wild. We didn’t swarm the football very well, or wrap-up, so that will be major areas of concern this week in practice,” said Thompson. Wayne County’s defensive unit was torched for 415 yards last week against South Laurel, with 276 of that coming on the ground. The Cards are allowing 23.3 points per game for the season. “Defensively going into the season we wanted to build and improve each week. Last week we didn’t do some of the things that made us successful against Mercer and Monroe, so we have to get back to the basics. This is a huge game for our squad going into the open week and then district play, so defensively our focus and intensity must improve, said Thompson. The Cards’ offense tallied 301 yards against South Laurel. led by the 184 rushing yards of senior runningback Matt Goff. Goff leads the squad with 758 rushing yards and 9 touchdowns, through four games. The senior stalwart is among the state’s top 10 rushers on yards per game. “Everything we do is a team effort and offensively we hope to continue to build each week. We moved the ball pretty well at times against South, but had a couple of three and out series, which we can’t afford. We must open some holes and finish off our blocks and that should put points on the board,” said Thompson. Wayne County is averaging 23.8 points per game, but was shutout in the second half last week. The offense will look to get back on track against a Knox Central defense that allows 14.7 points per game. “They have a Bell County look with their defense and will use some five and six man fronts,” said Thompson. The Homecoming matchup is Wayne County’s last game before the district opener in two weeks, at Russell County. “This is by far our biggest game of the season at this point. Nobody wants to go into an open week and the district season with a loss. We’re looking to build some momentum going into district play and that all starts with a good week of focused practice. Last week we focused pretty well in practice, but that didn’t carry over to Friday night. Our minds certainly were not where they needed to be on game night and that’s something we must correct this week,” said Thompson. Wayne County has won three of the past four in the series, including a 41-0 road win in 2003, but the Cards’ head coach knows that means little come Friday night. “We’re both 2-2 looking to get above .500 going into district play, so this is certainly a big game for two teams trying to get something established. We need to play hard-nosed Wayne County football for four quarters and leave it all on the field. If we do that I think good things will happen,” said Thompson. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday night at Wayne County’s Jewell Field. Add a comment |
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