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Wayne County improves to 2-0 with 14-13 win over Knox Central Friday night Shannon Hutchinson Sports Writer The Wayne County Cardinals hosted Knox Central last Friday night at Jewell Field in a match-up of 1-0 teams. The Cards were coming off a 24-7 win over Clay County, while the Panthers, ranked ninth in the WYMT Mountain Top 10, opened the season with a 40-12 win over Evarts. The contest marked the 12th meeting between the two schools, with Wayne County winning the last three in the series, including a 56-8 decision last year at Jewell Field. Wayne County scored the go-ahead touchdown on Ryan Steeleıs 29 yard pass to Tyler King, with under 7 minutes to play and stopped a Knox Central conversion run to claim an exciting 14-13 win. Knox Central used a 19 yard touchdown run by Matt Ramsey to close the gap to 14-13, with 3:04 left in the final quarter. Central head coach Wayne Mills opted to go for the lead with a 2-point conversion attempt, but Wayne Countyıs defense was up to the task, as the Cards stopped the Ramsey run and held on to improve to 2-0 on the young season. "The whole game came down to the conversion play and what a great effort by our defense. I thought our defensive unit gave a good solid effort all night and really stepped up. We swarmed the football, forced some turnovers and never panicked. This team is starting to show their character and we had a lot of guys step up," said Cards head coach Shawn Thompson. The Cardinals offense was led by the 88 rushing yards of freshman halfback Chris Burks. Ryan Steele passed for 92 yards and rushed for another 38 yards, as Wayne County totaled 219 yards of offense and 13 first downs. "Offensively we didnıt play very well in the first half, but I was proud of the way our guys battled back. We may have been too hyped early on. I thought in the second half our intensity and effort was much better," said Thompson. Knox Central, which dropped to 1-1, was led by 6-1 195 lbs. senior runningback Matt Ramsey. Ramsey scored on runs of 3 and 19 yards and finished with a game high 124 rushing yards, on 25 attempts. The Panthers finished with 189 total yards of offense and 11 first downs. "Give Knox Central and their coaching staff a lot of credit, they have a very good football team that never quit. I think the biggest difference in their team this season is the level of confidence they play with," said Thompson. The game opened as a defensive struggle as neither team scored in the opening quarter. Knox Central dominated the clock in the period and used a 15-play drive to mount their only serious scoring threat. The Panthers moved the ball inside the hostsı 40 yard line, but a costly penalty stalled the drive and forced a punt. Wayne County had two possessions in the first quarter, but both ended in turnovers. The Cards had a pass intercepted inside Knox Central territory and later fumbled the football away inside their own 30 yard line. The Panthers won the battle for field-position in the second stanza and finally scored after missing a 29 yard field goal attempt on their third possession of the game. Knox Central used six plays to march 41 yards and scored on Matt Ramseyıs 3 yard touchdown run. Alex Eposito added the extra-point to give the Panthers a 7-0 lead with just 3:28 left in the first half. ³We struggled on special teams and gave them great field-position. Defensively we played on a short-field for most of the second quarter and they finally made us pay,² said Thompson. The Cards answered with a 9 play drive of their own, but the drive stalled on the Knox Central 36 yard line. Central ran out the clock and owned a 7-0 halftime lead. "At halftime we really had to make some mental adjustments. We didnıt change anything except our intensity level. We allowed them to control the line of scrimmage and our focused effort just wasnıt there. I really liked the way our guys responded and battled back in the second half," said Thompson. Knox Central opened the second half with the football and managed to gain a first down before the Cards defense forced a punt. Wayne County responded with their best drive of the night, but still couldnıt claim a score. The Cards used 10 plays to march 68 yards, but failed to convert on a fourth down and short from Knox Centralıs 6 yard line. The hosts needed to gain just 1 yard, but a Ryan Steele keeper was stopped in the backfield, as Central held on to keep a 7-0 lead. The Panther offense couldnıt muster anything and was quickly forced to punt, giving the Cards excellent field-position on the Knox Central 39 yard line. The Cards finally hit pay-dirt, as Chris Burks capped off a 13-play drive with a 1 yard touchdown run. Joe Coffey added the extra-point to knot the score at 7-7 with only :07 left in the third period. ³Offensively I thought we came out with a lot more fire and intensity in the third quarter. We couldıve attempted a field goal on our first drive, but I have enough confidence in our defense that we can gamble some with our offense. A big score that really gave us some momentum,² said Thompson. The teams next traded punts, as Knox Central couldnıt handle their return and Ryan Steele recovered the fumble on the Panthersı 22 yard line. Three plays later, Steele connected with senior Tyler King on a 29 yard scoring pass, as Wayne County claimed a 13-7 lead. King finished the contest with a game high 3 receptions for 52 yards. "A great pass from Ryan and a great catch by Tyler in a real clutch situation," said Thompson. Joe Coffey added the extra-point to push the score to 14-7, with 6:37 left in the game. Knox Central answered right back with a touchdown of their own. Matt Ramseyıs fifth run of the drive resulted in a 19 yard touchdown run to close the gap to 14-13. The conversion ran failed, leaving the score at 11-13 with only 3:04 left in the final quarter. The Cards managed just one first down, on their next series but it was a huge one, which allowed the squad to run-out the clock and claim a 14-13 win. "This was a real hard-fought football game. I was proud of the way our guys played, especially in the second half, but give Knox Central a lot of credit. Coach Mills has their guys believing in what theyıre doing and they are gonna win several games this year," said Thompson. The Wayne County defense had several big efforts, led by the team best 13 tackles of senior Joe Coffey. Ryan Steele and Tyler King added 12 and 11 stops each, as the Cards had three defenders reach double-digits in the tackle column. The win marked Wayne Countyıs fourth straight in the series and gives the Cards an 8-4 all-time advantage. Up next for the Cards is a Friday night road trip to 1-1 Monroe County. The Falcons are coming off an impressive 28-0 win at Allen County-Scottsville. "We have to go back to work and try to get a focused, intense effort for four quarters. This was a good win over Knox Central, but at this point in no way can we become complacent. Monroe County certainly will be a huge test on the road," said Thompson. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. Friday night at Monroe Countyıs Darrell Carter Stadium. Add a comment |
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