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Cards use big first half to defeat Pendleton Co. 34-28 SHANNON HUTCHINSON Sports Writer The Wayne County Cardinals, 3-3 on the season and coming off a 63-0 loss at Scott County, hosted Pendleton County last Saturday afternoon at Jewell Field. The Wildcats entered the first ever meeting between the two schools with a 4-2 record and coming off an impressive 44-0 win over Owen County. Wayne County sophomore halfback Brent Gregory scored 3 touchdowns in the first half, as Wayne County built a 21-0 halftime lead, en route to claiming a 34-28 win. Gregory scored on runs of 12, 14 and 8 yards in the opening half, plus added a 16 yard touchdown run in the final quarter as Wayne County improved to 4-3 on the season. Gregory finished the day with 51 rushing yards on just 9 attempts, as the Cards rushed for 184 yards and totaled 320 total yards in the win. Senior quarterback Ryan Steele rushed 15 times for 66 yards and passed for another 136 yards, as Wayne County won despite 5 turnovers. "We had a really good first half and actually was able to do what we practiced all week, so that's a positive. I thought our intensity and focus was better to start the game, but after building a nice lead we got back in our comfort zone, so that's disappointing. Overall this was a good win against a solid well-coached team," said Cards head coach Shawn Thompson. The Cards finished with 11 first downs, aided by the game high 4 receptions and 97 yards of senior split-end Tyler King. "Offensively we had some big runs by Brent and some big catches by Tyler, but it was hard to get in any rhythm. We made too many mistakes with our penalties and turnovers, so we have to work on that," said Thompson. Pendleton County, which dropped to 4-3, totaled 247 yards of offense and 15 first downs, led by senior quarterback Michael McNay. McNay completed 14 of 31 passes for 162 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, as the Wildcats finished with just 85 rushing yards, on 34 attempts. "Give Pendleton County and Coach Carver a lot of credit. They were down 21-0 and refused to quit and that's the type of attitude I wish we had. Pendleton County never quit and they have some good athletes that know how to play to their strengths. This certainly was a good win for our team to get some momentum and get to the open week," said Thompson. Wayne County opened the game with the football and used the 65 yard kickoff return of Joe Coffey to set up the game's first score. Coffey returned the kick to the 27 yard line and a Pendleton County penalty moved the ball to the Wildcats' 12 yard line. Brent Gregory scored on a 12 yard touchdown run and Coffey added the extra-point, as the Cards owned a 7-0 lead with 11:42 left in the opening period. After the teams traded two empty possessions each, a Tyler King interception set up Wayne County's next score. King returned the pass 25 yards to the Pendleton County 21 yard line. The Cards used just four plays to notch the score, as Brent Gregory scored on a 14 yard run. The Joe Coffey extra-point pushed the score to 14-0 with 1:23 left in the first quarter. Wayne County's defense dominated the visitors for most of the first half. Pendleton County was forced to punt on their first four possessions, plus turned the ball over twice. "I thought our defense played pretty well early and really controlled the line of scrimmage," said Thompson. Wayne County pushed the lead to 21-0 with their best offensive drive of the contest. The hosts used eight plays to travel 75 yards and score on Brent Gregory's 8 yard touchdown run. The score was set up by two big plays as Ryan Steele connected with Tyler King for 37 yards and Dustin Denney added a 27 yard run on a reverse. Joe Coffey added the point-after, to make the score 21-0 with 7:22 left in the first half. Pendleton County managed to move the ball to the Wayne County 9 yard line, but Tyler King's second interception of the day, in the end zone, ended the first half with the Cards owning a 21-0 lead. The Wildcats opened the second half with the ball and responded with a scoring march. Pendleton County used eight plays to travel 64 yards and scored on a Michael McNay 16 yard pass to Pat Elliott. McNay added the kick to close the score to 21-7 with 9:03 left in the third period. A Wayne County fumble set up the Wildcats' next score. Pendleton County needed only two plays to move 24 yards and score on a Derek Amburgey 13 yard touchdown run. The extra-point left the score 21-14, with 7:54 left in the third stanza. The visitors then recovered the on-side kick, but a possible game-tying drive stalled at the Cards' 24 yard line, as Pendleton County turned the ball over on downs. "For whatever reason we got in our comfort zone and they made us pay. I don't know whether we forgot how we built the lead, but that stop was huge for our momentum and kind of stopped their run," said Thompson. The Cards' offense answered with an 8-play, 76 yard drive capped-off by a Ryan Steele 21 yard touchdown run. The extra-point pushed the Wayne County lead to 28-14 with 3:05 left in the third quarter. Pendleton County responded right back with a 13-play, 76 yard scoring march of their own. Michael McNay completed a 32 yard touchdown strike to Cori Boggs and McNay added the extra-point, to leave the score 28-21 with 10:33 left in the game. Wayne County's offense refused to go away and answered the Wildcats' march with a 68 yard drive of their own. The hosts used nine plays and scored on a Brent Gregory 16 yard touchdown run. The key play of the drive was Ryan Steele's 32 yard pass to Tyler King, the extra-point failed, leaving the score 34-21 with 7:40 left in the game. "I thought our offense put together a couple of nice drives in the second half. We were able to mix the run and the pass, plus had some good blocking on the line," said Thompson. The Cards turned the ball over with two interceptions on their next two drives, the last returned by Pendleton County's Kyle Pettit 17 yards for a touchdown. The Michael McNay extra-point closed the gap to 34-28 with only 1:28 left in the fourth quarter. Wayne County was able to recover the on-side kick and gain a first down, to run-out the clock and claim a 34-28 win. "After two straight losses this was a good win for our team's morale. We didn't finish the game like I hoped we would, but we'll take a 4-3 record into the open week," said Thompson. The Cards defense was led by the talented freshman duo of Chris Burks and Nathan Elam. Burks totaled 13 tackles and Elam contributed 10 stops, while Tyler King helped the cause with 2 interceptions. "We just have to get into the open week and try to get everybody back healthy. We have five to six guys banged-up and as a team we need some rest. Defensively we'll start looking at Corbin and get back to the basics," said Thompson. The Cards are open this week, before opening district play on Friday, October 14 at Corbin. Details on that match-up and a preview in next week's Outlook. Add a comment |
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