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Monroe County tops Wayne County 34-24 Shannon Hutchinson Sports Writer The Wayne County Cardinals met Monroe County, last Friday night at Darrell Carter Stadium, in a match-up of class 2A rivals. The Cards were coming off a 14-13 win over Knox Central, while the Falcons were coming off a 28-0 road win at Allen County, Scottsville. The contest marked the 7th meeting between the two schools, with Wayne County claiming a 42-14 win last season at Jewell Field. Monroe County quarterback Seth Graves completed 5 of 8 passes for 124 yards and rushed 11 times for 46 yards, plus totaled two touchdowns, as the Falcons soared to a 34-24 win. Graves, a 5-8 junior, connected on a 31 yard scoring strike to Miles Tooley and scrambled for a 19 yard touchdown run in the decisive second half, as the hosts improved to a 2-1 on the season. "Defensively we did a poor job of tackling, had poor pursuit angles and played with no intensity and it showed on the scoreboard. We had a good week of practice and repped their offense pretty well, but we just didnšt make plays. Our kids didnšt come out with intensity and we just got outplayed. Make no excuses, give Monroe County all the credit, they just wanted it more than we did," said Cards head coach Shawn Thompson. The Falcons totaled 272 yards of offense and 13 first downs, aided by talented senior running back Miles Tooley. Tooley rushed 19 times for 61 yards with a score, plus added a touchdown reception, as four different Monroe County players contributed a touchdown. "Monroe County has a good corps of offensive weapons and we didnšt do a good job of stopping them. Hopefully this loss will bring our team back down to earth and wešll go back to work," said Thompson. Wayne County which dropped to 2-1, totaled 285 yards of offense and 12 first downs, led by senior quarterback Ryan Steele. Steele led the squad with 93 rushing yards, on 11 attempts, plus passed for a season best 12 of 22 for 138 yards. Steele added touchdown runs of 4 and 2 yards. "Ryanšs a warrior and I have confidence in him that when his number is called hešs gonna battle," said Thompson. The Cards were plagued by 3 turnovers in the loss. "We have to take better care of the football and that starts with a more consistent effort on each play. Our offense was hard to figure, we would run a play for big yardage and run the same play and lose big yardage later on, so I canšt explain it except a lack of intensity," said Thompson. Wayne County opened the game with the football and needed just 10-plays to march 50 yards and score on Ryan Steelešs 2 yard run. Joe Coffey added the extra point to give the Cards a 7-0 edge with 7:42 left in the opening quarter. Monroe County answered back with a score of their own, on their opening series. The Falcons traveled 69 yards, on 11-plays and scored on a Miles Tooley 4 yard touchdown run. Manuel Saucedo booted the point-after to knot the score 7-7, with 2:46 left in the first period. The Cards fumbled away their next possession, which led to a quick Monroe County score. The hosts needed just 2-plays to march 10 yards and score on Josh Smithšs 7 yard run. The extra point pushed Monroešs advantage to 14-7 with 1:31 left in the first quarter. "We came out and really looked good on our first series and I thought we were ready to play, but I believe it put us in a comfort-zone. We didnšt play very well, after that first drive," said Thompson. The teams traded turnovers and punts over the next four series, with neither team able to sustain a drive. Wayne County did manage the only score of the second quarter, late in the first half. The Cards mixed the run with the pass and marched 84 yards, but had to settle for Joe Coffeyšs 22 yard field goal. The kick left the score at 14-10, with under a minute left in the second frame. "We had a real chance at a touchdown, but made some mistakes and had to take a field goal. We had the ball first and goal from the 5-yard line and couldnšt connect. I thought the field goal gave us some points and the momentum going into halftime," said Thompson. The Falcons owned a 14-10 edge at intermission. Monroe County wasted little time adding to their lead in the third period. The squad marched 66 yards and scored on a Seth Graves 31 yard touchdown pass to Miles Tooley. The Manuel Saucedo extra-point pushed the lead to 21-10, with 5:15 left in the quarter. Wayne County responded back with a 5-play, 64 yard drive capped-off a Chris Burks 12 yard touchdown run. Joe Coffey added the extra-point, to close the gap to 21-17 with 3:06 left in the third quarter. The teams traded empty possessions, before the Falcons used 13 plays to travel 39 yards and score on Cody Comptonšs 2 yard run. The extra-point failed, leaving the score 27-17 with 6:32 left in the contest. The Cards refused to go away and answered right back with an impressive drive of their own. Tyler King returned the kickoff 40 yards to the Monroe County 45 yardline. Wayne County needed only 3-plays to reach the end zone and scored on a Ryan Steele 4 yard run. The extra-point left the score at 27-24, with 5:28 left in the final quarter. Monroe County put the game out of reach on their next offensive series. Seth Gravešs completed a 53 yard pass to Cody Compton, which setup a Graves 19 yard touchdown run. The point-after pushed the score to 34-24 with just under 2- minutes left in the game. "We just couldnšt stop them on 3rd down when we needed to. I really thought if we couldšve held and got the football back, we had a real chance, but give Monroe County credit. They just wanted it and made the big plays," said Thompson. The Cards turned the ball over on their final series and Monroe County ran out the clock to claim a 34-24 win, which gives the Falcons a 4-3 series edge. Wayne County not only lost the game, but lost a couple of key players that play on both sides of the football. Senior lineman Corey Pyles and sophomore Jordan Steele both suffered injuries early in the contest. "Our injuries certainly didnšt help and we lost a couple of key guys, but make no excuses, we just lost," said Thompson. The Cars defensive unit was led by the team high 15 tackles of senior linebacker Tyler King. Ryan Steele added 12 stops, while the duo of Cody Pyles and Kyle Parris netted 10 tackles each. Bradley Baker added an interception with 7 total tackles, as a different Cards tallied 5 or more total tackles. Up next for the squad is another road game at Green County. The Dragoons are 0-3 on the season and coming off a 28-0 loss to Metcalfe County. "Anytime you lose it hurts and this one hurts even more, due to our lack of effort. Išm the head coach and Išll take the blame for this, so we have to go back to work," said Thompson. Kickoff is set for 8:00 p.m. Friday night in Greensburg. Add a comment |
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