Wildcat Football: Coach Seeing Improvement Despite Losses

Cats Lose To Green County 42-7

Edmonson County's Zander Bass (11) tries getting through Green County's defense.

Darren Doyle, story and photos:
Edmonson County fell to Green County tonight 42-7 on a soggy homecoming night, but Coach Ed Smart said at the beginning of the season that his goal was for his team to be better by the end of the year. Despite the growing pains and tough losses the Wildcats have faced this year, Coach Smart said he has seen his team improve as the season has moved forward.

In the post game interview with the Wildcats Live crew, Coach Smart said, "I told y'all the first time we talked, I wanted to see improvement. It's been a gradual process, but I thought defensively, at times we looked pretty good. Offensively, we're still struggling a little bit. We can get some first downs and there's a lot of things we need to work on, but there's improvement, and that to me is the key."

Matt Shaw makes a catch for the Wildcats.

The Wildcats have struggled mightily with a roster that is small in both size and personnel; they are also young and getting used to new positions and a new coach. Several of their games this season have seen running clocks--contests where the opponent led by 36 points or more. Scoring has been tough throughout all year, but there hasn't been a game during this 0-8 season (two of which were COVID forfeitures) where the boys gave up. If you couldn't see a scoreboard, you'd never know the Cats were trailing like they've been, based on their effort.

Tonight, Green County struck first with Julian Seymour scoring on a short carry on the Dragons' first drive of the game. Their two-point conversion was good and they led 8-0 with 9:19 in the first.

Green County scored again with 1:48 left in the first on another rushing TD from Houston Hodges; however, they did not convert on the two-point conversion. They led 14-0 going into the second.

Defensively, Edmonson County looked better than they had in previous games, stopping holes and making much better tackles.

Wildcat junior Zander Bass, who switched positions from WR to QB with fellow junior Daren Alexander, broke free on a quarterback keeper and ran 39 yards for a touchdown with 3:52 left in the half. Kicker Owen Stills scored the extra point and the Cats cut the lead to 14-7.

The Dragons scored on a big play during their next drive, this time on Blake Houchins' 59-yard TD run. Green County failed to score on the two-point conversion but extended their lead to 20-7 with 3:41 left in the half.

Daren Alexander leaps for a catch against Green County.

Edmonson County's Michael Mills avoids two Green County defenders.

Green County wasn't finished in the quarter. With under two minutes to go, they scored again on a 19-yard run and extended their lead once more after a two-point conversion to 28-7, which was the score at the half.

Owen Stills (33) kicks an extra point alongside Noah Meredith (10) against Green County.

The Dragons scored once more in the third and then again on another big run in the 4th--this time, a 56-yard run by Kelson McKinney with another two-point conversion, which brought the score to the final 42-7.

Zander Bass completed 3 out of 7 pass attempts for 18 passing yards while adding 55 rushing yards. Michael Mills rushed for 40 yards and Michael Shaw rushed for 38.

Gage Abney and Blake Shields each notched 10 tackles, Logan Davis added 9, and Michael Mills and Noah Meredith added 8 tackles each.

Mills also had a 58-yard interception.

"You want to see from that first game to the last game, you want to get better, and that's what I seeing," said Coach Smart. "I'm not happy about things--the result, but the truth of the matter is, we're getting better. If we'd turned around and got beat 66-0 and looked like we did in the first half against Hancock, then I'd be really disappointed and upset."

Edmonson County has one more home game this season, which is scheduled for Friday, October 22nd against Monroe County. It will be fall sports senior night at Wildcat Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7PM with the WildcatsLive crew going live at 6:45PM.