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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