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Cards travel to 1-0 Mercer County this Friday night Shannon Hutchinson Sports Writer The Wayne County Cardinals, 0-1 on the season and coming off a 28-7 loss to Pulaski County, travel to Harrodsburg to battle Mercer County this Friday night. The Scotties are coming off an impressive 31-22 road win at Monroe County. The contest marks the 8th meeting between the two schools, with Mercer claiming a 41-27 win in 2003 at Jewell Field. Mercer County, under the direction of Duane Hammons, is off to a fast start in 2004. The Scotties return 15 starters off last year’s 5-6 state playoff team, led by senior halfback Andrew McCloud. “Mercer County has a very experienced team and are really big on both sides of the ball up front. This is another game that will be won, or lost depending on the battle on both lines,” said Cards head coach Shawn Thompson. The Scotties netted 31 points last week on offense, paced by the excellent play of Andrew McCloud. McCloud, a 5-9 190 lbs. senior running back, tallied 266 rushing yards and three touchdowns, in the Scotties impressive win last week. “McCloud was voted as one of the top 50 players in the state in the preseason, so we certainly have our hands full defensively. I think he’s as good as any back we’ll see this season and he really has Division One type speed,” said Thompson. Mercer County runs the majority of their offense out of the I-formation, but will also use the wishbone and Pro-formations. The theme remains the same in any of the sets and that is to get the ball in the hands of McCloud. “Mercer County does a good job of using several different formations, but everything they do is based on putting McCloud in position to make big things happen. I think much like we use Matt Goff, Mercer County relys on McCloud,” said Thompson. Wayne County’s defense will look to build on last week’s performance that allowed 28 points, but only 7 in the second half. “Mercer’s size is also a concern. We have to do a better job of making plays and cutting down on our mental mistakes. We gave up some big plays last week and those all came on mental mistakes, but I thought we played much better in the second half,” said Thompson. The Cards’ offense amassed 16 first downs and 70 plays last week, but finished with just one score and 201 yards total offense. “Clock management was an area I thought we did a pretty good job in. We were able to move the football and run clock, but we have to finish more drives and put points on the board. We mixed the run and the pass okay last week, but anything we do the end result must put some points on the board,” said Thompson. Senior halfback Matt Goff led the offensive attack last week with 129 rushing yards on 36 attempts. Ryan Steele completed 8 of 20 passes for 57 yards, while Tyler King added a team best three receptions for 30 yards. “Across the board our downfield blocking has to improve. I was pleased with our initial contact, but we didn’t do a very good job of staying with our blocks. I felt like that was the biggest difference from our two scrimmages and the first game we didn’t open holes up down-field,” said Thompson. Another area that must improve this week is special teams and that’s an area that is not lost on the coach. “Special teams was probably the biggest disappointment in last week’s game. We have to do a better job of returning and covering both kicks and punts,” said Thompson. What must the Cards do to pickup a win on their first road trip of the season? “We can’t let McCloud go wild on defense and offensively we must do a better job of getting in the end zone. Last week I was proud of the way our kids never quit, so if we do that again this week and cut down on our mental mistakes, I think we’ll see good things happen,” said Thompson. Kick off is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday night at Mercer County’s Scotties Stadium. Add a comment |
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