Coach Nathan Smith had already counted on senior linebacker and wide receiver Zack Farmer sitting out last night's game against Adair County due to illness when he didn't show up on time for school yesterday. Farmer battled vomiting throughout the day but pushed through and finally made it to school and the game. He convinced the team that he was able to play and luckily for the Wildcats, he came up with two big interceptions that helped Edmonson County hold on in a big 27-25 district win against Adair County.

"I really had my doubts about him, but he came out here and had all kinds of tackles, was all over the field on defense, did a good job on long snaps for us, and had two big interceptions," said Coach Smith. "I'm really proud of him. He's a different player from something that happened a couple weeks ago. He's turned it around and he's become our motivational leader on the sidelines. He keeps everybody up and I'm super proud of Zack right now."

The Wildcats led 13-8 after the first and took a 20-10 lead into the locker room at the half. The score remained the same throughout the third but Adair took advantage of Edmonson County penalties throughout the game and crawled back in during the fourth.

The Indians scored on a 10 yard touchdown run by Adair, but they failed on the extra point for a 20-16 Wildcat lead with just under eleven minutes to go. 

The Wildcats answered with a 9 yard run from Tucker Cole to extend the lead to 27-16 after Brannon's extra point with 5:48 to go and it would be crucial as the Indians weren't done. They scored on a huge 36 yard touchdown pass and extra point with only 1:41 to go to cut the lead 27-25, but the Wildcats held on for the fourth win of the year.

"It's a win...definitely a hard fought win," said Smith. "I feel like we made some good plays but we gave up some really bad plays. We got plenty to work on but thank goodness we have fall break coming up."

The Wildcats finished for 279 total passing yards, connecting on 16 of 23 attempts. Edmonson County is now 4-3 on the season and is off next week for the break. They are scheduled to take on Hart County on October 13 at home for the final home game of the season.

Darren Doyle, story and photos:
It was a tough night for the Wildcats as they struggled to stop the offense and battle the defense from the E-town Panthers, (4-1), in a 36-8 loss at home on Friday night.

The Wildcats got things off to a great start, seemingly causing an E-town turnover on downs during the first run of the game, but a late hit started a series of penalties against the Wildcats that would transform E-town's 50-something yard field position and punting, to the red zone and eventually into the end zone three minutes into the game. 

The Wildcats blocked the extra point and trailed 6-0.

The Panthers connected again on a TD, this time converting on the extra two points which gave them the 14-0 lead in the first. Another big run from the Panthers came as the first was coming to a close and they scored again on another touchdown and extra point just as the second quarter began to extend the lead to 21-0.

Senior Logan Lindsey was a victim of a cheap shot from a Panther as he caught a pass at full speed and was leveled from the blind side. E-town penalized for targeting but many Wildcats wanted an ejection call after Lindsey was shaken up on the play. Lindsey would return to the game with what appeared to be a busted nose only, but Edmonson fans were not happy.

E-town took a 28-0 lead into the locker room at the break and while the Wildcats finally got on board in the 4th with a 16-yard touchdown from Chase Elkins on a pass from Tucker Cole with a two-point conversion, there was too much firepower from the Panthers in the 36-8 loss.

The Wildcats now drop to 3-3 on the season. Head Coach Nathan Smith said he knew this game would be no easy task. 

"We knew they're a great football team. Lots of people are expecting them to win a state championship," he said. "I thought our boys played with as much heart as you can possibly play with. We were starting freshmen and we had freshmen all over the field. At one point we had five freshmen out there on defense, and that's a series where we stopped them."

Smith said while the Wildcats had them at third and long multiple times, he credited E-town for simply making the plays they needed, when they needed them.

"I'm proud of our boys," he said. "After last week, it would've been easy to come in here and lay down, but I'm proud of them. After tonight, we have four very winnable games left, and we're focused on going 4-0 on the rest of the season."

The Wildcats are scheduled to travel to Adair County next Friday night. Edmonson County has one final home game left in the season, an October 13 match against Hart County which will be senior night. A huge renovation to the home bleachers and press box are scheduled to begin immediately after the final home game.

Darren Doyle, story and photos:
The Lady Cats did their parts Thursday night in both taking care of the Grayson County Cougars and helping a local family currently fighting cancer in the annual "Dig Pink" Cancer Benefit game at ECHS. The Lady Cats disposed of the Grayson County in three sets (25-20, 25-14, 27-25).

The first two sets were pretty easy going for Edmonson County, as they took an early lead in the beginning and kept control throughout. Set three was a different story as the Lady Cougars were relentless around the net and dug multiple kills from the Lady Cats. Grayson County took the early lead and kept Edmonson on their heels until things were tied up 21-21.

Grayson extended the lead to 23-21 but the Lady Cats scratched back to tie it again at 23, and again at 24. Caitlin Simon blasted the Cougars with a rocket-shot kill to give the Lady Cats their first lead since early in the set at 25-24. Grayson County wasn't going to fold up and answered the next point with a kill of their own to tie it at 25. 

That's all the Cougars would muster up as the Lady Cats took the last two points, the set, and the game to improve to 17-5 on the season, 7-1 in district 12 play, and 10-3 in region 3.

While the win was good for Edmonson County, it was also a great night in the fight against cancer as the silent auction and donation jar raised over $1100, a portion of which will be donated to the family of 12 year old Logan Hampton, who has been diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, a type of children's bone cancer.

The Lady Cats are scheduled to take on Warren Central in Bowling Green Monday, September 25 at 5:30pm.

Edmonson Voice Sports:
The Wildcats fell to 3-2 on the season after a tough overtime loss to Metcalfe County on the road last night, 14-13.

Two, well-matched teams took the field in Edmonton last night and things were pretty quiet in the first half as the Hornets scored early on on an impressive 57 yard touchdown run. The extra point was no good and they were able to take a 6-0 lead over the Wildcats at the half.

Wildcat fans were also pretty quiet until the end of the fourth when Tucker Cole pushed through for a three-yard touchdown, tying the score with only 27.3 seconds to go. Edmonson County needed just one more point in the form of a Brett Brannon kick to likely win the game, but that kick was unbelievably blocked by an incredible effort from the Hornets. 

The Wildcats went for the onside kick but was recovered by the Hornets at their own 49 yard line. Metcalfe County took the next snap, took a knee, and ran out the clock, forcing overtime.

Edmonson County won the toss, took control of the ball on the 10 yard line, and struck first in overtime as Tucker Cole connected with Brayden Carey on a 10 yard touchdown pass. Brett Brannon's extra point was good and the Wildcats had the lead 13-6. 

Metcalfe now had the same opportunity and while the Wildcats stopped them on their first two attempts, the Hornets connected for a 7 yard touchdown pass, cutting the Edmonson County lead to 13-12. The Hornets went for the win on a two-point conversion attempt, which was successful as Metcalfe County pushed out a grueling 14-13 win over the Wildcats.

Quarterback Tucker Cole was 15/24 in passing attempts for a total of 163 passing yards, one passing touchdown, and one running touchdown himself. He also compiled 22 running yards.

The Wildcats were quiet in the running game as Carey had 12 yards and Kenny Logsdon added 2 yards.

Edmonson County is scheduled to take on Elizabethtown (3-1) at Wildcats Stadium next Friday, Sept 22, at 7pm. The Edmonson Voice WildcatsLive pregame show will begin at 6:45pm.

Darren Doyle, story and photos:
The Lady Cats were too much for Butler County to handle as they dominated the Lady Bears in three sets in a district 12 match.

Edmonson County set the tone early, blasting Butler County 25-5 in set one, keeping things going in set two 25-12, and finalizing things in set three 25-4.

The Lady Cats improve to 14-5 on the season and are now 5-1 in district 12 play and 8-3 in third region matches.

They are scheduled to take on Barren County (3-15) away on Monday, September 18 in a freshman, JV, Varsity match beginning at 5:30pm at Barren County High School. They will take on Glasgow on the road the following night and then will be back home Thursday, Sept 21 for the annual "Dig Pink" cancer benefit event as they take on Grayson County.

Darren Doyle, story and photo:
Edmonson County High School Softball Head Coach Jeremy Garmon has stepped down from the position, according to ECHS Athletic Director Kyle Pierce.

Garmon spent two seasons as head coach of the Lady Cats where he compiled a 32-30 record, including a 2016 District 12 Championship title in his first season.

"I would like to thank the administration for the opportunity to have coached and lead the program for two seasons, a program with rich history and tradition," said Garmon.   "I would like to thank my assistant coaches especially Tim Basil who was a major help to me.  Also, and most importantly the players.  Not only the ones from the 2016 championship season but also the 2017 rebuilding season. It takes special kids to win and also special kids to want to learn and get better during a rebuild."

A.D. Pierce said that the head softball coaching position will be open for 30 days. Once all the applications are in, he said the school will make the best choice for their softball program.

"We hope to have some high quality candidates for the position," Pierce said. "We won a district championship in 2016, and our 2017 team gained a lot of experience as we had many underclassmen filling the roles left from 2016. Our softball program has always been respected around the region and state as being highly competitive."

The new season for high school softball is scheduled to begin in March of 2018.

"Although we hate to see him step away, we understand he needs to do what is best for his family," added Pierce. "We wish Coach Garmon the very best."

Garmon also passed along positive thoughts for ECHS softball.

"I wish the players and the program the best of luck going forward," he said.

Darren Doyle, story and photos:
The Lady Cats fell to Breckinridge County 2-1 at ECHS Tuesday night despite a strong first set for only the second home loss of the 2017 season.

Edmonson County got off to a shaky start in set two as Lady Cats had trouble digging the ball out against hard Lady Tiger hitters. Breckinridge had compiled a 16-6 lead and forced the Lady Cats into their second timeout of the set when Edmonson County began an impressive comeback. They cut Breck's lead to 23-20, but that was a close as they'd get as the Lady Tigers went on to win 25-20, tying things up at 1-1.

The Lady Cats found themselves in a mess in set three as they struggled to communicate and execute, allowing Breckinridge to remain in control as they fell 25-10, and the game 2-1.

Edmonson County is now 13-5 on the season and is scheduled to take on Butler County at home on Thursday night beginning at 5pm.

Darren Doyle, story and photos:
The Wildcats got off to a great start on Homecoming night, 2017; however, the deeper, more athletic Warren East Raiders were able to outlast Edmonson County in a 21-10 Wildcat loss.

The stands were packed at Wildcat Stadium as Edmonson County struck first, getting inside the red zone with 6:57 left in the first. Senior Brett Brannon connected on a 16 yard field goal.

The Wildcat defense looked very polished and it kept East from doing much of anything offensively early on. With just over a minute in the first, quarterback Tucker Cole ran the ball himself for a 8 yard touchdown and the Wildcats were on top 10-0 at the end of the first. 

Unfortunately, that's all the offense Edmonson County would manufacture despite two interceptions for large runs. Those runs were dialed back amidst a shower of yellow penalty flags throughout the night.

The Raiders put up their first points in the second quarter on a touchdown and extra point but the Wildcats took the 10-7 advantage in the locker room at the half.

East took the lead for good with just over 8 minutes left in the third on a TD and extra point. It was all they'd need as the Wildcats ran out of gas in the fourth quarter. Edmonson County's 6'5" 350lb center Logan Hagan left the game with an knee injury. He required assistance walking as he wore a large brace after the game ended.

East scored once more in the fourth that sealed the deal as they extended their lead to 21-10, the final score of the game.

Coach Nathan Smith credited Warren East for making big plays when they needed them while at the same time giving a nod to the Wildcat effort. Although the loss was not what Edmonson County was shooting for, he said it's a good opportunity for the upperclassmen to step up and lead the team going forward.

"This is a chance for us, it's kind of a 'make or break' moment," he said. "If we want to roll over a play dead for the rest of the season, we can do that, or our seniors and upperclassmen can pick us up, and we can get better from this."

Edmonson County is now 3-1 on the season and is scheduled to take on Metcalfe County next Friday at 7pm in Edmonton.

Darren Doyle, story and photos:
The Edmonson County Lady Cat volleyball team continued their season success with a 2-0 win over Allen County-Scottsville Thursday night at ECHS.

The Lady Cats had their hands full in set one as the score differential never exceeded three points. Both teams kept a rapid pace, trading points until ACS rattled off three in a row to take the lead at 15-14, forcing a rare timeout for Edmonson County. The Lady Patriots extended their lead to 17-14 until the Lady Cats tied things up 17-17. 

The Lady Cats forced an ACS timeout with a 22-19 lead and Allen County bounced back with a kill to cut the lead to 22-20. That's as close as the Lady Patriots would get as EC took the first set 25-21.

Set two was a different story as the Lady Cats took charge early and forced an early Lady Patriot timeout as they jumped to a 10-2 lead. The aggressive start was all EC needed and they remained in control the rest of the set as they went on to win 25-13 and the game, 2-0.

The Lady Cats are now 11-3 on the season and are scheduled to compete in the "All (A) Region 3 Tournament this Saturday, hosted by McLean County.

Darren Doyle, story and photos:
Edmonson County's 9-game winning streak was snapped last week in a loss on the road at Warren East, but the winning started again Tuesday night as the Lady Cats bounced back with a 2-0 win over Caverna.

The Lady Colonels struggled to answer Lady Cat hitters Mikayla Lindsey, Caitlin Simon, as EC sent kill after kill over the net. Kaitlyn Hyde and Sierra Kenney were also strong around the net and great serves by Shasta Smith and Cierra Collins never allowed the Lady Colonels to get into a rhythm. 

Edmonson took the first set 25-7  and kept things rolling as they took the second set 25-13, and the game. 

The Lady Cats improve to 10-3 on the season with a 7-1 record in Region 3 play and 5-0 in district 12 games. They are scheduled to take on Allen County Scottsville at ECHS on Thursday in a JV/V/F match beginning at 5:30.