Wildcats Defeat Cardinals in Football Season Opener

#22 Daniel Caudill sets the Wildcats up to score with a great catch. (photo by Sporting Times Broadcast Network)

Goal Line Stand gives the Cats 13-6 win

by EC Athletics Staff


The Edmonson County Wildcat football team opened up the regular season by winning a hard fought 13-6 victory over AAAA Taylor County at Campbellsville University this past Friday night. After a heat advisory pushed the start time back by almost 2 hours, EC found a way to edge out a win over a much bigger Taylor County football team.

The Wildcats moved into the red zone on several occasions in the first half, but came away empty. They finally broke through when sophomore quarterback Jake Dial scored on a rollout from 7 yards. The extra point was missed to leave the score at 6-0 with 1:59 left in the first half. Taylor County then quickly moved the ball down field before scoring on a 21 yard draw play with just 20 seconds left to go. The Wildcats blocked the extra point attempt to keep the score tied at 6-6 going into halftime.

The second half was much like the first with both team’s defense being dominant.  The Wildcats broke the tie with 8:08 left in the game when sophomore running back Daniel Caudill took a sweep around the left end for a 3-yard touchdown run. Freshman kicker Brett Brannon added the extra point for a 13-6 lead. Both teams traded possessions and were forced to punt. Taylor County mounted one last drive, aided by a pass interference call on the Wildcats, and what looked like an illegal play where a Cardinal snuck off the sidelines for a 24-yard pass to get the Cardinals to the 1-yard line. The Wildcat defense would not break however. The Wildcats stopped two straight quarterback sneak attempts. The Cardinals then spiked the ball on 3rd down to stop the clock. On 4th and 2, senior defensive end John Finch tackled the 285 pound running back low knocking the big back down at the 5-yard line. The Wildcat offense then took a knee to run the last few seconds off the clock for the 13-6 win.

With the win, the Wildcats begin the season 1-0, and head coach Kyle Pierce says they are very fortunate. “The game could have gone the other way very easily. I thought we outplayed them most of the game, but we had some lapses in concentration. We knew they would have some plays on us because they were so big, but we had way too many penalties for false starts. We had the ball deep in their territory, but didn’t put points on the board. We had way too many blocking assignment mistakes offensively. But our kids made plays when they had to. So, if we can play that bad and win, hopefully that means our team will get these things corrected and play better as the season progresses.”

The Wildcats now turn their attention to Elizabethtown. The Panthers are ranked by many in the top ten in Class AAA. Pierce says they may be one of the best teams the Wildcats will see all year. “E-town is very well coached. They have one of the fastest players in the state and they do a good job offensively with their Wing-T offense of making you play disciplined football. Defensively, they are fast up front and really fly to the football. We'll have to play extremely well to compete. It will be our first home game of the season, so hopefully we'll have a great crowd supporting our Wildcats.”

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 CST Friday night at Wildcat Stadium in Brownsville.