The Edmonson County Lady Cats fell 68-51 in their season home opener against Breckinridge County Tuesday, December 3, 2024.

The Lady Cats were led in scoring by Shelby Sowders with 18, Jenna Cook had 17 and 11 rebounds, Cariann Williams had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Kennadi Swihart added 2 points and 5 rebounds.

Story and photos by Joseph Barkoff:
​Edmonson County Lady Cat basketball opened the 2024-25 season on the road against an opponent they lost to by almost 30 last season Monday, December 2nd in Tompkinsville.
 
This year, despite the same Lady Cats on the floor against the same Lady Falcons of Monroe County, the result was much different. Still a loss, but only by 5 points after leading for most of the game.
 
Edmonson County Lady Cat center Cariann Williams took the opening tip off, but they were unable to convert on their first possession, giving first blood to the Lady Falcons with a quick 2-points.
 
It didn’t last long when Lady Cats senior, coming off a season ending injury last year, shooting guard Kennadi Swihart answered with a 3-pointer.
 
The Lady Falcons did not convert on their next possession, but Swihart sank another three and in less than a minute-and-a-half, the Lady Cats were up 6-2.
 
It was a battle between the two teams with more lead changes than there were accidents on the way home after the snow, which is saying a lot because there were a few.
 
“I’m proud of our girls,” Edmonson County Lady Cats head coach Jodi Booth said after the game on the Edmonson Live broadcast Post Game Show. “They played hard in their first game.”
 
It is always tough to play on the road, he added.

​Williams has not lost a step, and as one might expect with a growing young woman, and growing basketball player, she continues to show improvement as her game experience increases. As a junior, there is nothing but the stars for her.
 
Returning Edmonson County seniors Swihart and shooting guard Jenna Cook both exude the kind of levelheaded leadership through example coaches can only hope for from their seniors.
 
Two sophomores, who once might have seemed timid on the floor, are no longer. Point guard Shelby Sowders and shooting guard Tayla Willhite both act like the belong on the floor the whole game.
 
Last year both were thrown into the deep end, with Sowders often starting and being the main ball carrier up the floor with Willhite coming in off the bench. 
 
Sowders did not trust her own ball handling and would sometimes have trouble moving the ball. This year, not only does she have the presence to use her center but there is also no fear left in her eyes when she flies in to pull up on a dime for a jumper.
 
Willhite was afraid last year. Except for when she wasn’t. When she forgot the kids were older, bigger and stronger around her and just played her game, she was lights out. This year, in the first game, off the bench she does not seem concerned any longer about the people she plays against. They are her opponents, and she will play her game.
 
Lady Cat senior power forward Julie Norris is back, and with her, her levelheaded paint play and three-point prowess when the team needs a deep bucket from the corner, and senior Maggie Cassady will serve in a number of roles for the team this season.
 
The new season should be pretty good.

It was a loss. Everything wasn’t perfect. But there is room still to grow. More room to grow than to say something nice about every player.
 
“Little things we can fix,” Booth said. “At least its not things we can’t fix.”
 
Transition defense was lacking and they were unable to keep their lead after going on runs, he said.
 
“I am disappointed we lost,” Swihart said after the game. “But coming from we lost by 30 when we played them the second time(in the season), and they’re a really really tough team in the 4th District, I think we played good.”
 
“We had a good battle,” Swihart said. “We wanted to win and I’m not upset with anybody on our team, I am proud of how we played.”
 
They shot the ball really well, Swihart said, and she thinks they look “100 times better than last year,” already too.
 
Williams earned a double-double with 21 points and 18 rebounds, and Sowders brought in 21 points with 3 rebounds on the night.
​
“I thought for a first game we had a really good showing and we got little things we gotta work on, but we’ll be fine,” Booth said.

Also scoring for the Lady Cats was Cook with 13 points and 4 rebounds, Swihart with 6 points and 6 rebounds, and Willhite rounded out the scoring with 4.
 
The Lady Cats host their home opener later tonight, 7 p.m. Tuesday Dec. 3 against Breckinridge County in Brownsville. The boys will travel to Owensboro to take on Owensboro Knights Christian at 7:30PM.

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Story and photos by Joseph Barkoff:
​The Edmonson County Wildcats (6-4 regular season, 6-5 season) lost in Round 1 of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association Class 2A Playoffs to powerhouse Murray High School (8-3) 48-7 Friday, November 8th in Murray.
 
Maybe it’s fitting to end the long season, both literal and figurative, with a long road trip, also both literal and figurative? While life lessons generally are not fondly looked upon, someone always seems to point out the positives from the negatives.
 
“This ain't the end,” Edmonson County head coach Justine Vessels said to his team gathered around him at the end of the game near the end zone under the scoreboard. “Because the seniors have set a good standard, we are gonna keep this goin’. We’ll keep getting better and better.”
 
There is nothing to hang their heads about, Vessels added. They just ran into a team, bigger, stronger and faster than them.
 
Vessels also reminded the squad, they have only had one off season training with him, so far.
 
“I love this team,” Vessels said.
 
They have been extremely coachable all season, he told them as well.

The game was a loss on the scoreboard, but a win for the team overall.
 
Edmonson County saw their first winning record in seven years. 

The veterans on the squad put their trust in a new system and coach, and through their work ethic, determination and love for each other, have shown not only the team of youngsters coming up into varsity and the returning players, next year’s veteran and seniors, that Edmonson County can and will win, but they may have inspired folks who may not have had the intestinal fortitude to suffer through losing seasons, that now, might just be the time to get in on the ground floor, as they say.
​

​One fan watching on the Edmonson County Live Broadcast summed it up best in the comments.
 
“Win or lose y’all have done a great job this year,” Paul and Gina Miller wrote on Facebook.
 
The sentiment was echoed across the comments.
 
“Well EC wildcats(sic) had a good year no matter the game,” another fan Chris Grimsley wrote on Facebook.
 
Indeed, they did. Next year may be even better.
 

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Story and photos by Joseph Barkoff.
​Edmonson County Wildcat football achieved something Friday, November 1st they have not accomplished in some time. 
 
It was almost a normal Friday night in Brownsville during football season. It was a home game and senior night. It was reasonably cold, but there wasn’t snow and it wasn’t raining or windy.
 
A chilly, but nice evening for a shootout between Class 4A Breckinridge County(3-7) traveling to meet Edmonson County(6-4) for some good old fashioned Friday night lights.
 
What was different than other nights past was two things.
 
First, something revisited every school year, a senior’s last home game.
 
Though what set this night completely apart from every other night, every last home game of the season since 2017 was the Wildcats earned six wins. They were 6-4 in the regular season this year.
 
There are playoffs and potential of course, but this is not why we are here.
 
Edmonson County High School Wildcat football earned their first winning season in a cat year, or dog year. Either way, it has been a while and Edmonson County freshman head coach Justin Vessels celebrated three things on Friday.
 
Vessels turned 43, he had a winning season as a freshman head coach at EC, and the third, he explained, was having the field in such good shape this late in the year, he said after the game.
 
The paint striping machine has the temperament of “Jaws” from “Mr. Mom,” except instead of swallowing everything, it has a tendency to explode paint on the user.
 
Without John Kiernan and Jake Wingfield operating the field striping machine and working on it three times to get it going, Vessels said, it might have been a different night.
 
Maybe it was foreshadow of the evening’s 47-38 shootout final score.

​“It was a hard-fought game,” Vessels said on the Edmonson Voice Live broadcast Post Game Show. “It’s never easy.”
 
The cumulative record for the seniors was 5-27, before the 2024 season, before tonight. It was never easy in Edmonson. It still isn’t, but it is different, and maybe feels a bit smoother for a day or two. 
 
Long enough for the game film to be analyzed and Monday’s practice to start in the afternoon. It is a process, as Vessels has explained.
 
One last home game for the seniors, and they shined bright for their home crowd. One last time under the Edmonson County High School football field lights.
 
For example, on a play almost with almost indescribable action, senior tight end and defensive back Jake Coy ended up scoring a touchdown on a punt. 
 
No, not a punt return.
 
It was fourth down and four, and after using a timeout to avoid a delay of game penalty, junior punter, place kicker, kickoff specialist, running back and defensive back Colton White booted the ball almost 60 yards, from around the Wildcat 33-yard line to the Fighting Tigers 30-yard line. 
 
Just under the ball, like a frisbee dog keeping up with his toy, Coy, in almost Halloween “gotcha” like presence, was in line with the ball as it came down in front of Breckinridge County’s punt returner.
 
White called out where he was aiming and kicking the ball, Coy said on the Edmonson Voice Live after the game.
 
The ball fell just short of the waiting Breckinridge player, through his fingers and bounced up and into his chest. 
 
Off their chest and into the ready hands of Coy, who without breaking speed, by much, before finding another burst, now with the ball, to fly just over 30 yards into the end zone for a touchdown.
 
“I didn’t even know what was happening,” Coy said on the Edmonson Voice Live Post Game Show. “I mean the ball bounced right through his hands and I ran into the end zone.”
 
Senior running back and linebacker Garret Lyons ran, through and over a good handful of people for a handful of scores. As well, senior running back and defensive back Carter Swihart might have gotten 1,000 yards rushing on the season to go along with his scores on the night, if it wasn’t for 130 yards from 11 penalties on the evening for the Wildcats.
 
“It’s surreal, I can’t even believe it,” Lyons said after the game. “But I came into this game knowing we were gonna win. I knew we’d fight hard. We’ve worked for it since January of last year, I think.”
 
The Wildcats had 353 yards rushing with 47 yards passing against the visiting Fighting Tigers, according to the unofficial stats from the Edmonson Voice Live broadcast.
 
Other stats included two turnover on downs, two fumble recoveries, an interception as well as the punt reversal return from Coy and 11 first downs.
 
“It’s surreal,” senior running back Carter Swihart also said after the game. “Six and four, like coach said, it was our plan, it was our goal and we reached it, and it is amazing.”
 
They bought into Vessels’ program and worked really hard, senior offensive tackle and defensive end Ace Daugherty said.
 
“It’s pretty awesome, you know,” Daugherty said after the game. “Coming into this, I started playing when I was a freshman so I have only won five games in my whole career.”
 
“We really earned this winning record,” Daugherty said.
 
He is really proud of his team and proud he got to play with them, he added.

​“It’s really cool,” junior quarterback Tristen Muse said after the game. “I’m glad the seniors got a winning season since they had all those past seasons that weren’t too good. I’m happy for the seniors.”
 
“I think we got better and better throughout the season,” Muse said. “And we are gonna keep on getting’ better, especially next year, though the off season.”
 
With a couple of missed coverages in the secondary and gap coverage from the defensive side, Muse feels the without those mistakes, they would have been up “by a whole lot more,” he said.
 
Muse feels the “o-line has definitely gotten better all year you can see with all the big runs” they are having, he said.
 
They will celebrate tonight, but tomorrow they will start getting ready for the next game, senior tight end and defensive end Tavien Ivory said on The Post Game Show.
 
“It means a lot,” Vessels said after the game.
 
He is happy for his seniors, he said. They persevered and went through a lot of losing seasons, didn’t quit and stuck it out, and he is happy for them to get some success.
 
Monday, it will be business as usual. It is the process after all.
 
Next week, Edmonson County will see another Tigers team in Murray High School (7-3) at 7 p.m. Friday November 8 in Murray.
 
Murray is the fifth ranked team in Class 2A, Edmonson is ranked eighth. It will be a game indeed.

Story and photos by Joseph Barkoff:
Edmonson County High School Wildcat football (5-4) went southwest to Elkton to deal with some Rebels, Todd County Central (2-7) Friday October 25th, and deal they did.
 
The Wildcats did more than a resounding 42-16 senior night dampener. With 9:02 left in the third quarter, senior full back Garret Lyons crushed up the middle and broke a couple more tackles on the way for a 25-yar touchdown run.
 
At 9:02, Wildcats ahead 35-0 against the Rebels, the running clock started and Edmonson County head coach pulled his starters in favor of using his junior varsity squad, suited up and ready to play as the second string for varsity.
 
The starting squad ended the game in similar fashion to their opening,  with Lyons hammering up the middle. Following Lyons, both literally through the holes made wide by a gelling offensive line and figuratively, senior running back Carter Swihart, juniors running back Blayne Deweese and quarterback Tristen Muse, were all able to combine for 180 rushing yards total, according to the unofficial stats provided by Edmonson Voice Live Broadcast.
 
Muse connected for 45 yards passing as well, according to the broadcast.
 
“We came and did what we needed to win,” Muse said after the game. 
 
Other unofficial stats from the evening include 9 first downs, 2 turnover on downs, 2 fumble recoveries and a contested and airborne interception by junior defensive back Deweese.

The Wildcats uncharacteristically turned the ball over twice.

​And then there were the penalties. Ten of them. 
 
“It was a tough game to get a rhythm going, ‘cause of all the penalties,” Edmonson County head coach Justin Vessels said on the Edmonson County Voice Live broadcast booth post game report. “It was pretty frustrating.”
 
Both teams were called for quite a few each delay of game penalties, plus the Wildcats had a couple holds.
 
At least they were holds. 
 
Vessels would prefer they didn’t get penalties, or commit them, but a hold is an “effort” penalty, he said in the past.
 
Despite the setbacks of penalties, a drone causing a game delay, in maybe the longest first quarter of the season without lightning delays, the WIldcats were able to come out of the locker room sharp for the second half.
 
“We picked it back up in the second half,” Muse said. “And the first half says it all.”

The defense, at the direction of Edmonson County defensive coordinator Tommy Muse, after shutting out the Rebels with 21 minutes left in the game, also put in the second string.
 
“I was really proud of our defense, there in the second quarter,” Vessels said. 
 
They really dug in and kept the Rebels off the score board in their own red zone as the seconds wound down on the first half, he said. Allowing the Wildcats to go into halftime up 21-0 against the Rebels.
 
“It feels good,” Vessels said after the game. “It always feels good to get a win.”
 
Vessels admitted the game did not have a very good flow to it, he said. 
 
Despite the flow, they overcame and played well, Vessels said.
 
“The kids played great,” coach Muse said after the game. “They played hard. We still have a few things to clean up, but I’m very proud of them.”
 
Next week, is the last game of the regular season at home against Class 4A Breckinridge County(3-6), and while every game is special, Vessels said, next week’s game could mean a lot to the team, the school, but especially the seniors.
 
“As of right now, they have won five games,” Vessels said. “That is the total of the last three years combined. Our goal is to get a winning record. If we win next week we’ll be 6-4 and that’s been a goal of the seniors since winter lifting.”

It would be the first time Edmonson County was 6-4 since the 2017 season.
 
“It will be pretty cool to get that winning record,” he added.

​

Alyssa Doyle, story and photos:
Last night, the Edmonson County Lady Cat Volleyball team fell 3-0 to the Grayson County Lady Cougars in the first round of the 12th District Tournament. The Lady Cats started neck and neck with the Cougars, finally taking the lead at 13-11 in the first set. Grayson County responded with an 8-1 run, never giving up their lead again. The Cougars took the first set 25-18.

​The second set was much of the same, as the Cats could only take the lead once. Grayson County won the second set 25-13. Edmonson wasn't able to start final set with the needed energy to turn the page. They were unable to fight off the Cougars, making several errors and never taking the lead. The Lady Cats lost the set 25-16, resulting in a 3-0 sweep for Grayson County.

Two Lady Cats, Julie Norris and Laney Belle Woodcock, were named to the All-District Tournament Team. Norris also received an award for the All-Academic Team.

​The Lady Cats ended their season with a record of 13-16, which was a major improvement from last year’s 5-25 record.

Story and photos by Joseph Barkoff:
Edmonson County (4-3) football took the field at home in Brownsville against the number one ranked Class 2A Kentucky High School Athletic Association Owensboro Catholic Aces (7-0) Friday, October 18th, knowing their opponent would be formidable.

They were formidable indeed.

Maybe from the stands, it would be hard to see the size difference of the players, but on the sidelines, not so much. What could be seen easily from the stands was the more than twice the number of players standing on the visiting side.

Edmonson County has 33 players. Owensboro Catholic has 69.

The Aces quarterback is larger than every player on the Wildcats squad, but the Wildcats were not deterred.

In fact, despite the 44-0 loss, one thing to note is in the first quarter, it looked as if the Aces had thought of the Wildcats as just another pushover on their journey back to the Kentucky State 2A Championship.

A mistake on the Aces part and while the Wildcats were unable to capitalize on their early success against their oversized opponents, they did make the Aces have to switch their style.

The Wildcats stopped the Aces twice on fourth down causing a turnover on downs, senior defensive end Ace Daugherty had a glorious sack followed by a tackle for a loss from the everywhere kid, junior place kicker, punter, field goal kicker, running back and defensive back Colton White.

​The result, in the second quarter the Aces went Spinal Tap, and cranked their gears to 11, instituting a hurry up offense that could make National Football League teams jealous with the speed and efficiency in execution.
 
Number, color, check down, hike. 
 
The Wildcats had no time to readjust after any plays. Without backups, substitutions and time to get set, the stalwart Wildcats defense faced their toughest challenge to date.
 
The Wildcats also tackled, covered and played some of their best defense so far this year. It just happened against an oversized, over budget, overbearing team like no other in Class 2A.
 
“The boys came out and played real hard,” Edmonson County head coach Justin Vessels said after the game on the Edmonson Voice Live Broadcast.
 
Vessels’ style of coaching is bad if you are a heart monitor in a hospital. On the field, with the sound of a flatline, it rubs off and is good.
 
Vessels speaks about not wanting the players to get too high, or low, as he himself exudes the same.
 
There is passion. There is love. There is determination. There aren't players getting down on each other or coaches. There is recognition for feats achieved, and it isn’t like a post-apocalyptic movie where the world is on some form of Prozac. There is emotion.
 
After a sack. A great run. Complete pass. They are still just young men. There is though method like an invisible metronome moving forward.
 

​To move forward for the Wildcats, like every week before, they will learn from game footage, make adjustments, and then go into the next week with the previous week behind them. Have good practices, fix mistakes and get better.
 
It will not change. It is what Vessels does.
 
It is like the ‘Serenity Prayer’ exhibited and applied in the Friday night lights. The team will change what they can control and leave the rest for wisdom.
 
“Our boys, we came out and I thought they played hard the whole game,” Vessels said. “The defense played really well early. We had trouble moving the ball on offense.”
 
Junior quarterback Tristen Muse echoed Vessels’ comments.
 
“We played really good in the first quarter,” Muse said after the game. “It’s just we got gassed ‘cause they have so many rotations for the players and we only have first team for varsity.”
 
There are positives on the evening more than just a lesson in hard knocks.
 
First, there were no penalties committed by the Wildcats.
 
“If we can move it against this team, we probably can move it against any team we want,” Muse said. “And if we can play defense, we can probably stop anyone. We just need to keep our players fresh and go at them like we did in the first quarter.”
 
This time tomorrow, Vessels said, this game is behind us and we are on to our next one.
 
“The process doesn’t change,” Vessels said in multiple previous post-game interviews.
 
Next week, Edmonson County travels to play Todd County Central at 7 p.m. October 25 in Elkton.
 

Story and photos by Joseph Barkoff:
​Edmonson County High School (4-3) once again enjoyed a full week to prepare, plus a day, returning to Friday night lights facing district rival Fort Campbell (3-3) on Homecoming October 4th in Brownsville.
 
The Wildcats were unable to control the speed and explosiveness of the Falcons on Homecoming and lost a four-quarter battle 36-31.
 
“We were just a little bit too sloppy and we made some mistakes,” Edmonson County head coach Justin Vessels said on the Edmonson Voice After Game Show. “The boys played hard. They played the whole game. They gave great effort, and it’s not any one player’s fault.”
 
Like the past two games, the opposing team scored two touchdowns, but instead of like the last two games being ahead, the Wildcats were down by one point 15-14.
 
“We made too many mistakes against a team that has that much speed,” Vessels said.
 
Too many to mistakes to overcome, I hated it, Vessels said. 

​“We started to slow down in the second half,” Edmonson County junior quarterback Tristen Muse said after the game. “Which we normally don’t do. We normally play a really good second half.”
 
Muse asserts the bulk of the blame is his from his performance on special teams in the loss, he said. He kicked it out a couple too many times and gave Fort Campbell good field position.
 
This kind of, almost selfish, theory of leadership was elaborated and written about by former Navy SEAL Jocko Wilkins in a book called “Extreme Ownership” by Jocko Wilkins and Leif Babin.
 
The theory, most often taught in Recruit Officer Training Cadet programs, basically says the leader is completely responsible for any mistakes. No matter the transgression.
 
If someone slips on a rock, any unforeseen incident, anything that contributes to any negative actions. No matter the complaint or objection from whoever the action was done by the leader assumes responsibility.
 
Muse does not know about the book or the SEAL “Jocko”, as he is often called by aficionados, but he is willing to accept the fault for the team loss, despite his coaches and other players saying there is no one person responsible.
 
This is not an attribute always given to people in leadership positions. Muse is a junior. There is room to grow.
 
And there is a bright side, Vessels said. They are 4-3 going into fall break. The seniors expressed a goal of having a winning record, and Vessels feels it is still attainable.

​The two things Vessels feels could come in between the Wildcats and winning record for the first time in years is complacency, which “won’t be a problem,” and the other thing is to stay together as a team, he said.
 
Neither will be a problem for them, he said. They like to practice and improve.
 
Fall break couldn’t come at a better time for the team. Seven games into the season, they are little banged up and the extra time off should help make a push to the end, Vessels said.
 
“We got to finish this thing off the right way,” Vessels said.
 
Owensboro Catholic is next and “they are really, really good,” Vessels said.
 
But they have to come here, both Vessels and Edmonson Voice Live broadcaster Granville Meredith said and agreed.
 
Some stats on the evening were, according to Edmonson Voice Live 18 first downs, 246 yards rushing, 42 passing and only three penalties. There was also a fumble recovery by senior defensive end Ace Daugherty.
 
There was a turnover on downs and an interception, as well as a kickoff returned for a touchdown, which were the “three mistakes,” according to the broadcast team.

Also, junior place kicker, running back and defensive back Colton White made his first field goal of the season. A 43 yard attack with room to spare. The school field goal record is 46 yards, set by the Edmonson Voice's own Granville Meredith back in 1987.
 
Good practices and keeping their heads up, Muse said is the key in moving forward. 
 
For the Wildcats to move forward, does anything change?
 
The process will not change, Vessels reiterated after the game.
 
“The process doesn’t change,” Vessels said last Thursday after the game in the Edmonson Voice. “The process is the same every week. You know, if we win, we feel good about it for 24 hours, then we are on the next opponent. If we was to lose, we feel bad about it for 24 hours and then we are on to the next one.”
 
After Fall Break, in two weeks, Friday Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. Edmonson County will host Owensboro Catholic in Brownsville.

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Story and photos by Joseph Barkoff:
​Every school, every team, everywhere endures the experience. Losing records and down times. In the case of Edmonson County High School football, it has been nine years since the Wildcats went 3-1 in the month of September. They currently have four wins and two losses overall in 2024.
 
Nine years ago in 2015, current ECHS head coach Justin Vessels was an assistant for then head coach, and current ECHS athletic director Kyle Pierce.
 
Vessels said he knew the players had great work ethic and attitude when he was interviewed for the job last year, he said. 
 
It showed Thursday night September 26th in Brownsville against visiting Clinton County, when most games in the area were moved up a day due to the incoming rain and potential flooding across the state.
 
Last year, Sept. 22 2023, Clinton County defeated Edmonson County 26-6 in Clinton County.
 
This year, Edmonson County defeated Clinton County 34-14 in less than ideal and soggy conditions.
 
“I think we played a very physical game tonight,” Vessels said. “I thought offensively and defensively, our offensive and defensive line played well.”
 
They anticipated having different looks to deal with from the Bulldogs defense with their shifting lines, stunts and forms, Vessels said. But they worked on recognizing the different scenarios all week.
 
Though only up by one touchdown at the end of the first half, 21-14 for the Wildcats, they would shutout the Bulldogs in the second half.
 
“Coach (Tommy) Muse coached a great game on defense,” Vessels said. “He mixed the coverages so they couldn’t get comfortable.”
 
Vessels pointed out, like in Ohio County last week, 14 points were scored in the first half, but in the second, for second week, the opposing team was shut out in the third and fourth quarter. 
​

​The Bulldogs did not make it easy for the Wildcats, even in the second half.
 
Clinton County began with the ball in the second half and ran down more than nine minutes off the clock into the third quarter before giving the ball over after a failed fourth down and 12 pass play.
 
With the Wildcats opening play from their own 20-yard line with 2:50 on the clock, senior running back Carter Swihart broke through for a 40 yard run, to the Bulldogs 40. Junior quarter back Tristen Muse carried next on a keeper. Then Swihart again, then Muse, Swihart, Muse. Like a seesaw assault to end the third quarter still 21-14 in favor of Edmonson County.
The fourth quarter was dominated by Edmonson with two scores and the majority of the time of possession, able to hold off and regain control of the ball from a turn-over on downs from the Bulldogs a few times.
 
“That was big, being able to be physical and control the ball,” Vessels said about being able to score twice and control the ball and the scoreboard in the fourth quarter.
 
“This was just a big win for us tonight,” Vessels said. “I’m really proud and happy for our players that they’re getting to have some success for all the hard work they have done.”

​Tristen expressed his favorite thing for the evening was senior running back Carter Swihart’s four rushing touchdowns. He though the “O-line had really good blocks,” too.
 
“We played extremely good on defense,” Tristen said. “Especially the second half.”
 
When not tossing pitches, hand-offs or dropping back to pass, Tristen doubles as a linebacker on defense for the Wildcats.
 
“We didn’t know if we’d be able to stop the pass,” Muse said. “Rain helped.”
 
The whole team has showed improvement in completing tackles, despite the rain.
 
“Coach Vessels is an extraordinary coach,” Muse added after asked if there was anything he wanted to add. “He knows how to mix it up. He doesn’t let us get down. He keeps us movin’, keep our heads up.”
 
His favorite thing is that coach doesn’t let them get soft, he said. He makes sure we have good practices and makes sure we play even better in games.
 
Swihart ran for 242 yards on 23 carries according to the unofficial sats from the Edmonson County Voice Live broadcast Post Game Report. 
 
“It feels amazing,” Swihart said after the game. 
 
His favorite run of the game was the 47 yard touchdown, he said.
 
“I am having tons of fun right now,” Swihart said. “I mean, at the end of the day it’s how we work at practice. You could temm if you watched our first practice, to now. You could tell every single day we are coming in and getting better. Thts the main thing. Each week we are getting better, and it shows.
 
Indeed. It does.

Next for the Wildcats?
 
“The process doesn’t change,” Vessels said. “The process is the same every week. You know, if we win, we feel good about it for 24 hours, then we are on the next opponent. If we was to lose, we feel bad about it for 24 hours and then we are on to the next one.”
 
It’s what he thinks helps the team stay steady he said. They don’t get too high, nor too low. 
 
His secret to keeping everything all Goldy Locks? 
 
There isn’t one, Vessels said.  It is what you have to do to keep the boys in the right frame of mind.
 
“I love our attitude and our work ethic,” Vessels said. 
 
Edmonson County is home again next week against Fort Campbell October 4 at 7 p.m. in Brownsville. Last year Fort Campbell defeated Edmonson 37-8 at Fort Campbell. 

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Edmonson Voice Sports:
Eight Lady Cat seniors were honored at last night's senior night activities for the 2024 Lady Cat soccer team.

The game was postponed due to lightning but the seniors and their parents were still able to celebrate their night.

Story and photos by Joseph Barkoff:
​The best team on turf, at least the turf of Ohio County High School was Edmonson County as the Wildcats outperformed host Eagles 48-14 on the road Friday, September 20th in Hartford.
 
Despite being down by only one touchdown at the halfway point, the Wildcats dominated the scoreboard in the second half with 27 unanswered points.
 
“It feels great,” Edmonson County head coach Justin Vessels said after the game. “This is the kind of game we needed where we could have a good game on offense and get the offense going and get the boys’ confidence (up).”
 
“It was a close game at the half, 21-14, and we came out in the second half and continued to play well, and I think we scored 27 unanswered,” Vessels said.
 
The team was not afraid coming out in the second half, Vessels said.
 
“I never felt like they stopped us,” Vessels said about the first half. “The few times we got stopped, it was stuff we done to ourselves. You know, a penalty, a bobbled snap or something that got us in long yardage.”
 
“They never stopped us, we stopped ourselves,” Vessels said.
 
So if we can clean up a few of those mistakes, we can keep it rolling, Vessels said about coming out into the second half.
 
“I don’t think we had any of those mistakes in the second half,” Vessels said.

One sign of the success on the evening according to an unofficial stats from Edmonson Voice Live broadcast was 307 yards rushing shared between five different players. Seniors running back Carter Swihart, and fullback Garret Lyons, junior quarterback Tristen Muse and running back Colton White, and sophomore fullback Jacoia Orvis, all got touches and gained yards for Edmonson.
 
“It feels really good man,” Muse said after the game. “We started off hot.”
 
“We played even better in the second half,” Muse said.
 
“All our backs ran really good, hit the holes pretty good, and our linemen, they blocked really well,” Muse said.
 
“Defense played really good too,” Muse said.

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​Indeed. The defense had two interceptions with one from White in the second half during a play when seniors defensive back Aiden Seabolt blitzed alongside defensive end Ace Daughtery charging both from the right side. The Eagle quarterback was unable to complete his throw with full force  and lofted over both lines, like a lame duck, into White’s hands.
 
As well, on the first two possession of the game for Ohio County, the Wildcats made them punt after three downs each time.
 
However, the Wildcats also committed six penalties for 60 yards.
 
Vessels said he doesn’t want the holding penalties, Vessels said. Though he would rather those than false starts or lining up incorrectly.
 
“A holding penalty is an effort penalty,” Vessels said. “Kid is at least trying to make a block and give great effort. A mental mistake of lining up wrong, false start, off-sides, those should never happen.”

​“This was probably one of our best weeks of practice,” Vessels said of the previous week. “We was really sharp. We need to have another great week of practice and just start stacking them on top each other.”
 
“I’m proud of them ‘cause they work hard for us in practice,” Vessels said. “They are very coachable kids. They’re good kids and I am tickled to death that they are getting’ to have some success.”
 
Wildcats are at home next week against visiting Clinton County. The game is Friday Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. in Brownsville.
 

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Story and photos by Joseph Barkoff:
Friday night lights was moved to Thursday in anticipation of inclement weather on its way to the area so Caverna High School traveled from Horse Cave and defeated host Edmonson County 28-6 Thursday September 12th in Brownsville.
 
With only six days to prepare and then play, for both teams, Edmonson had their work cut out for them facing a team who ran almost 40 times in their win last week with Caverna.
 
It would also be the first time this young Wildcats team had faced off against a squad of tall, lanky and strong young men. As opposed to the still tall, but generally with more girth-to-grab-onto-sized squads they met in their first three games.
 
“Well, it never feels good to lose obviously,” Vessels said. “Caverna is a little better than people think probably. They’ve got a lot of good athletes.”
 
Not only are they athletic and fast, they’re big athletes, he said. Over six feet and near 200 pounds for quite a few.
 
The lack of mass to grab past long arms coupled with rain on and off throughout the game made for difficult tackling, Edmonson County head coach Justin Vessels explained after the game.
 
Junior quarterback Tristen Muse agreed with Vessels about the rain. “We were sliding off the big fast guys and couldn’t throw the ball,” Muse said.
 
“Big, strong kids that can run,” Vessels said. “We had trouble tackling them.”
 
Vessels doesn’t think it was a scheme issue, he said. 

​“I feel like we didn’t work together very well,” Muse said after the game.
 
“They’re fast, they’re big and they’re strong,” Vessels said. “We didn’t tackle very well. Offensively, it was like we was in spurts. We had spurts where we would do things right.”
 
We would block the guys correctly, have good runs, and every now and again we would hit play-action passes, he said.
 
“Then we would have spurts where it just looked like a mess,” Vessels said. “It was a train wreck where we either blocked the wrong guy or somebody went the wrong way…”
 
It was like they were inconsistent tonight on offense and defense really, he said.
 
“I think they are a decent team, and we did not play very well against them,” Vessels said.
 
“Hopefully we can come back next week, have a good week of practice, get better and try to get a win at Ohio County,” Vessels said. 
 
In their first three games, there were maybe one or two guys who could really run, and its easier to hem them in, he said. Those guys had about five guys who could really run.
 
From the wide receivers to the tailbacks, to the fullback to the quarterback, he said.
 
“We’re still a young team that is learning how to handle success,” Vessels said. 
 
We can get better, he said.

​“I told the boys I am not down on them,” Vessels said. “We’re gonna treat this just like we did after the Grayson game and Monday we’re gonna get back to work.”
 
Vessels said he has no plans to brow beat them, be down on them or be negative, he said.
 
“I’m gonna coach them and hope they’ll have a positive attitude and try and get better,” Vessels said. “I think they will. I still like this team a lot.”
 
One thing they plan to work on next week, besides “blocking and tackling, the fundamentals of football,” is mental toughness, he said.
 
“We need to have a good next week of practice,” Muse said.
 
“When something negative happens, we can’t hang our heads,” Vessels said.
 
The one scoring drive came after the start of the third quarter, down 16-0 to the Colonels, when the Wildcats received the kickoff and junior wide receiver William Saling’s return to the 20 yard line.
 
Fourteen plays and eight-and-a-half minutes later Muse connected with senior tight end Jake Coy for a 15-yard touchdown reception. The only one on the night.
 
After a failed two-point conversion attempt, the score was 16-6 with 3:27 left in the third quarter.
 
Another positive was junior running back Blayne Deweese gaining 74 yards on five rushing attempts, according to the stats provided by Edmonson County Voice announcer Scott Lindsey in the post-game report.
 
Edmonson County travels to Hartford next week to face Ohio County Friday 7 p.m. Sept. 20 in Beaver Dam.