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Garrard Co. throttles Wayne Co., 49-14 Shannon Hutchinson Sports Writer The Wayne County Cardinals hosted Garrard County last Friday night at Jewell Field. Both teams entered with 1-0 district marks, with Wayne County defeating Russell County 31-0 a week earlier and Garrard County claiming a 42-0 win at Casey County. The contest marked the 13th meeting between the two schools with the Golden Lions winning the last three in the series, including a 9-0 decision in 2003. Garrard County quarterback Spencer Crutchfield totaled 367 yards of offense and five touchdowns, as the Lions raced to a 28-7 halftime lead en route to a commanding 49-14 district win. Crutchfield rushed 10 times for 159 yards and scored on runs of 10, 49 and 34 yards. The 6-3 190 lbs. senior stalwart also connected on 14 of 22 passes for 209 yards with touchdown strikes of 30 and 21 yards, as the visitors improved to 6-2 overall and 2-0 in league play. “Crutchfield is the best quarterback in the area and so dangerous with his vision on the field. He’s very solid on the run and has a great knack of always finding the open man. Anytime you deal with a lack of team speed it’s so important to wrap-up on the initial contact and we didn’t do that. Our kids know their responsibilities, but against such an athletic team we have no time to think, we have to react the right way,” said Cards head coach Shawn Thompson. The Golden Lions amassed 445 total yards of offense and 14 first downs with a balanced attack. The winners netted 236 rushing yards, aided by Zach Doan’s 56 yards on 10 attempts with two touchdown runs. Junior David Hall added a game high 85 receiving yards, on just three receptions, as a trio of Garrard County receivers tallied over 50 yards. “Garrard County substitutes five to six players at a time on offense and they make it tough to adjust on the fly. They like a frantic pace and the big key was our intensity level wasn’t where it has to be for us to be successful,” said Thompson. Wayne County finished with only 192 total yards on 56 plays. The Cards netted 11 first downs, but were forced to punt on three straight first half possessions, which allowed the Lions to roll to a 28-7 halftime lead. “We scored on our first series of the first half and first series of the second half, but didn’t give the type of effort needed in between. As a coach the thing that is so frustrating is their defense didn’t change, we just didn’t execute,” said Thompson. Senior runningback Matt Goff paced the attack with 128 rushing yards on 26 attempts. Goff scored on touchdown runs of 15 and 6 yards, as the Cards were held to their lowest point total since a 38-14 loss at South Laurel. Garrard County opened the game with the football and used 10 straight running plays to march 65 yards and scored on a Spencer Crutchfield 10 yard run. Cory Horn added the extra-point to give the visitors a 7-0 lead with 6:11 left in the first quarter. Wayne County answered right back with an efficient 7-play drive of their own. Matt Goff notched runs of 9, 7, 2 and 11 yards before scoring on a 15 yard touchdown run. Joey Coffey added the extra-point, to cap-off the 60 yard march, as the Cards pushed to a 7-7 tie with 3:13 left in the opening quarter. The Golden Lions dominated the second quarter with a 21-0 scoring edge. Garrard County scored their first of three straight touchdowns on Spencer Crutchfield’s 30 yard strike to Bruce Williams. The extra-point gave the visitors a 14-7 lead with 11:13 left in the first half. After a Wayne County punt, Crutchfield ended a 6-play, 82 yard march with a 49 yard touchdown run. The Cory Horn extra-point pushed the score to 21-7 with 7:18 left in the second quarter. Wayne County’s offense struggled throughout the second period. The unit managed just one first down and totaled 22 yards on 12 plays, during the quarter. Garrard County added the final score of the half, at the 2:06 mark of the second frame. The Lions needed just 5-plays to march 75 yards and scored on Spencer Crutchfield’s 21 yard touchdown pass to Dan Learell. The point after gave the visitors a 28-7 halftime advantage. “We’re not getting the same effort that we did earlier in the season. We were able to win some games with hard work and self-discipline and that was lacking in this game. Anytime you play teams with excellent team speed, your intensity and execution has to be at a high level. We didn’t have that in this game,” said Thompson. The Cards opened the second half with the football and responded with a 9-play, 66 yard scoring march. Matt Goff’s sixth run of the series produced a 6-yard touchdown run. Joe Coffey added the extra-point to close the gap to 28-14, with 8:53 left in the third quarter. Garrard County’s Zach Doan quickly gave the momentum back to the visitors. Doan returned the kickoff 56 yards and gave the potent Lions’ offense the football, at the Wayne County 36 yard line. On the first play from scrimmage Spencer Crutchfield raced 34 yards for a touchdown. The extra-point pushed the lead to 35-14 with 8:30 left in the third frame. The Lions added another score at the end of the third quarter. Zach Doan capped-off a 7-play, 71 yard drive with a 6 yard touchdown run. Cory Horn added the extra-point to push the lead to 42-14 with :20 left in the quarter. Wayne County’s offense struggled the final 16 minutes of the game. The unit produced two punts, two turnovers and two turnovers on downs over their final six possessions. With the ground-game in check, the Wayne County passing game also stalled. Quarterback Ryan Steele, facing pressure throughout the contest, completed just 3 of 13 attempts for 29 yards with two interceptions. Garrard County capitalized on Wayne County’s second turnover of the night. Zach Doan added his second score of the night, on a 4-yard run, to cap-off a two play scoring drive. The extra-point pushed the score to 49-14 with 7:50 left in the fourth quarter. Fresh faces played throughout the remainder of the game, as Garrard County claimed their sixth straight win of the season with the 49-14 win. The win was also the Lions’ fourth straight in the series and pushed their all-time edge to 8-5 against the Cards. The Wayne County defense finished with one fumble recovery and was led by the 9 tackles of junior linebacker Ryan Steele. Matt Goff added 8 stops, while freshman Jordan Steele tallied a career best 6 tackles in the loss. Up next for the 4-3 Cardinals is a road-trip to 0-7 Casey County. The Rebels haven’t won this season, but have defeated Wayne County three of the last four times, the teams have met. “Casey County is a very scary team. They have nothing to lose and can play all out, which is something they were pretty successful at last year,” said Thompson. The Rebels opened very slow last season before a late season surge, helped by a 19-13 overtime win at Wayne County, clinched a playoff berth and the district’s #3 seed. “We must go back to work and pick up the intensity. Nobody wants the four seed and a trip to Elizabethtown, so we must go back to work. We still have a chance to host a playoff game and do good things, but it all starts this week. Our effort has produced frustration and that’s something we continue to address each day in practice. We have to play every play hard and not allow mental frustrations to override our effort,” said Thompson. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday night at Casey County. For a complete preview of the matchup check the related story inside this edition of the Outlook. Add a comment |
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