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Cards outlast Garrard County 20-14 in 3 OT's SHANNON HUTCHINSON Sports Writer The Wayne County Cardinals met Garrard County last Friday night at Jewell Field in an important district contest for both teams. The Cards entered with a 4-4 mark and were coming off a 23-14 home loss to Corbin. The Golden Lions owned a 2-6 record and opened district play with a 24-0 home loss to Garrard County. The match-up marked the 15th meeting between the two schools, as Wayne County claimed a 36-23 win at Lancaster in 2003. Wayne County junior quarterback Jordan Steele tied the score at 6-6, in the fourth quarter with a 63 yard touchdown run and clinched the win with a 10-yard touchdown run in the third overtime period, as the Cards rallied to take a 20-14 win. Steele rushed for a season high 126 yards on 20 attempts, plus completed 9 of 16 passes for 98 yards, as the Cards improved to 5-4 on the season and 1-1 in district play. "We dug a hole with a turnover early and had to find a way to battle back. Garrard County plays as hard as anybody on our schedule and their score early really fueled their momentum. I thought execution-wise this wasn't one of our best efforts, but give our guys a lot of credit they refused to give up and played hard through three overtime periods," said Cards head coach Shawn Thompson. The Cards totaled 299 yards of offense and 9 first downs, but were plagued by 3 costly turnovers. "We made some mistakes that really killed our momentum and put us in some tough spots. Garrard County didn't commit a turnover, so to be minus three in the turnover margin and still win says a lot about our kids' effort. It was a muddy, cold night and the atmosphere was of old-time smash-mouth football," said Thompson. Garrard County, which dropped to 2-7 overall and 0-2 in district play, totaled 178 yards and 8 first downs, on 62 plays. Jared Prewitt, a 6-2 175 lbs. senior quarterback, paced the attack with 77 rushing yards on 20 attempts and completed 5 of 17 passes for 52 yards and two scores. Prewitt connected with senior tight end Matt May on scoring strikes of 15 and 4 yards, to tally both of the Golden Lions' scores. "Garrard County doesn't have the most athletic team, but they have some very good football players that know how to play the game. I thought their record wasn't an indication of the type of team they have and after playing them, I think they are a very dangerous team. Coach Stonebraker had them focused and ready to go after a tough one last week against Casey County," said Thompson. Garrard County opened the game with the football, but was forced to punt after three plays. The Lions recovered a fumble on the Wayne County return attempt, at the hosts' 18 yard line. "Our defense opens strong and forces a punt, but we fumble the ball away and give Garrard great field-position," said Thompson. The Golden Lions used four plays to go 18 yards and scored on a Jared Prewitt 15 yard touchdown pass to Matt May. The extra point failed, leaving Garrard with a 6-0 lead with 8:33 left in the first quarter. Defense dominated almost the rest of the half as the teams combined for 6 punts and just 4 total first downs. Both teams had three series each, that never crossed the other's 40 yard line. "Offensively we didn't come off the football very well and really struggled to get into any type of flow. For whatever reason our last drive of the half things started to click, we just ran out of time," said Thompson. Wayne County's last drive of the second quarter started at their own 6 yard line, but the squad mixed the run with the pass to march 90 yards in 11 plays. The key play of the drive was a 30 yard run by sophomore halfback Chris Burks. The Cards had the ball first and goal on the Garrard County 4 yard line, but Jordan Steele's keeper was stopped on the goal line, on third down, as time expired. "Just another half yard or block and we have at least a tie at halftime, but this was just one of those nights that nothing would come easy," said Thompson. The Cards opened the second half with the football, but the offense failed to move the chains on their opening two series and had to rely on the punt team. Senior punter Bradley Baker answered the call with another consistent outing. Baker punted six times for 175 yards with little or no return yards. "Our punt team has been a real bright spot the last two weeks. Our coverage and blocking have improved, plus Bradley is doing a good job of getting the ball out quicker. Punt team was a real asset with our offense struggling," said Thompson. After a couple of Garrard County punts, the Cards appeared poised to make a run, but turnovers would figure in the mix. Wayne County moved the ball to the Garrard County 20 yard line, but a fumble at the end of a run stopped the march. "Turnovers are always big, but when you don't force any it makes miscues even bigger. Three turnovers are just too many and defensively we have to do a better job of turning people over," said Thompson. The Cards trailed 6-0 after three quarters, but would answer the call on their next possession. After a Golden Lions' punt gave the hosts the football on their own 34 yard line, the offense responded with the big play. Jordan Steele broke free for a 63 yard touchdown run, to end the 2 play, 66 yard scoring drive. The Cards conversion pass failed, leaving the score knotted 6-6 with 10:29 left in regulation. "Finally a big play to get us on the board. A nice job of blocking and a big time run by Jordan in the open field," said Thompson. Garrard County battled right back with an 11 play, 45 yard drive that stalled on the Wayne County 12 yard line. The Golden Lions pass attempt sailed through the end zone on fourth down. Neither team would seriously threaten again, as the score remained 6-6, at the end of regulation. "Just a good, clean hard-fought district game in some football like conditions. This certainly was a game for defensive-minded fans," said Thompson. Defense claimed the first overtime period as Wayne stopped the Lions on their first series, but couldn't hit pay-dirt after a first down delay of game penalty. Jordan Steele scampered 10 yards on fourth down, but was stopped 4 yards short of the win. Wayne County opened the second overtime period with the football and used all four plays to notch a score. A Steele 13 yard pass completion to Wesley Dick setup a Chris Burks 2 yard touchdown run. Burks finished with 17 attempts for 70 yards and Steele connected with Robert Corder on the conversion pass, to give the Cards a 14-6 advantage. Garrard County refused to go away and Jared Prewitt completed a 4 yard touchdown pass to Matt May, on fourth down to close the score to 14-12. Prewitt called his own number on the conversion run and scored to knot the score at 14-14, after two overtimes. "I was starting to think that maybe it would never end. We stopped them, they stopped us, we scored, they scored, it was an exciting high school football game," said Thompson. The Lions were plagued by a costly holding penalty and were faced with a fourth and goal from the 9 yard line. Coach Stonebraker opted for a field goal attempt that would come up just short, to end the visitors possession in the third overtime. Wayne County clinched the win, as Jordan Steele scored on a 10 yard run to give the Cards a 20-14 three-overtime win. "I was so proud of our kids' effort and the fact they never quit. Also, give Garrard's kids a lot of credit, both sides played hard and didn't want to lose this one," said Thompson. A review of the defensive stats shows the Cards had several impressive individual efforts. Senior linebacker Robert Corder led the unit with 14 total tackles, while the duo of Jake Upchurch and Cody Pyles netted 13 stops each. Adam New tallied 11 tackles and Chris Burks teamed with Jordan Bertram to net seven stops each, as the Cards had six players register at least 7 tackles. The win improved the Cards to 7-8 all-time in the series against Garrard County that dates back to 1975. Up next for Wayne County is the regular season finale at upstart Casey County. The Rebels are 3-6 but own a 24-0 win over Garrard County and battled Corbin to a 23-7 loss last week. "Casey County has a very solid running game and probably the most explosive player in our district in Marcus Patterson. It will take a great effort to go over there and get a win," said Thompson. Details on the game in a related story inside this edition of The Outlook. Add a comment |
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