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Cardinals prepare to host Monroe County Shannon Hutchinson Sports Writer The Wayne County Cardinals host Monroe County this Friday night at Jewell Field. The Cards enter the match-up with a 1-1 record and coming off an impressive 32-13 win at Mercer County. Monroe County enters with an 0-2 mark and is coming off a disappointing 52-6 loss to Tennessee power Trousdale County. The contest marks the sixth meeting between the Class 2A schools, with the Falcons winning the last three in the series, including a 42-21 decision in 2003. Monroe County is looking for their first win under the direction of first year head coach John Petett. The Falcons looked solid in the preseason, but followed that up with losses to Mercer County (31-22) and Trousdale County (52-6). “Monroe County is very well coached and this year offensively they’re spreading teams out more. They like to open things up with the pass, more so than the Monroe teams we’ve faced in the past,” said Cards head coach Shawn Thompson. The Falcons offense will be led by the tandem of quarterback Rusty Hawkins and talented halfback Mike Tooley. The offense will use a lot of I-formation and Twins sets. “They want to spread the defense out and that’s something our defense will have to improve on. Pulaski County was able to spread us out, but I thought we swarmed the football much better against Mercer. Monroe has a very athletic back in Tooley, so we’ll have to prepare all week and be focused on our assignments,” said Thompson. Wayne County’s defense is coming off an outstanding performance at Mercer County. The unit allowed just 135 total yards and four first downs last week. “Defensively we must keep building each week and I really liked the way we swarmed the football last week. Our intensity level improved and that’s something we must have this week, plus we must have a focused week of practice,” said Thompson. Wayne County will face a Monroe County defense that will be based out of the 40 look. The Cards rolled to 349 yards of offense, with all but 63 of those coming on the ground, last week against Mercer County. “Offensively we were able to break some plays and had several different guys step up and that’s something we want to build on this week. We must continue to work on our blocking and penalties is an area we have to try to clean up,” said Thompson. The Cards were penalized 11 times for 87 yards in last week’s win. What must the Cards do to stop a three game losing streak against Monroe County? “We must stay focused and have a solid week of practice. Monroe has really handed it to us the last three times, so that should hopefully motivate our guys. We can’t feel good about last week and just hope to show up this week. I told our guys that by no means should we feel comfortable about where we are at. Teams that get comfortable usually finish with three to four wins and wonder what happened,” said Thompson. Monroe County owns a 3-2 all-time series edge. The game is also a very special night for the Wayne County Youth League Football participants. The contest is slated as the 2004 “WCYFL NIGHT” as all players and coaches will be recognized at halftime. “We’re thankful and excited about all those future Cardinals and their coaches. We want to build our program from the ground up and it all starts with the youth league. I’m very excited about our numbers at the level and we want to let them know how much they are appreciated,” said Thompson. Kickoff is slated for 8 p.m. Friday night at Jewell Field. Add a comment |
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