Wildcats Edged By Top Rated Butler County, But Coach Encouraged By Toughness

2016 Edmonson County Wildcats

Edmonson Voice Sports
The Edmonson County Wildcats fell to Butler County, ranked ninth in the state on Friday night 35-28, but head coach Nathan Smith says he sees far more than just an (L) in the score book.

The Wildcats struck first in Morgantown taking an early 6-0 lead in the second quarter on Daniel Caudill's 6 yard touchdown run. Butler County struck back when the Bears' Ty Smith caught a Rex Henderson pass for a touchdown with 9:48 left in the half. The extra point gave the Bears a 7-6 lead.

With 7:14 to go, Wildcat QB Tucker Cole turned a 15 yard run into a touchdown as EC regained the lead 12-7, but failed to convert on the extra two point attempt.

Butler County then broke through the Wildcat defense as the Bears' Brendon Shanklin scored a touchdown on a 75 yard punt return with 3:28 to go in the half. Seconds before halftime, EC's Daniel Caudill scored on a 4 yard run and regaining the lead 20-15 at the half.

The Wildcats found themselves behind as BC's Henderson found some room and scored the touchdown on a 50 yard run as the Bears were back on top 21-20 with 3:53 left in the third.

EC's Tucker Cole found Logan Lindsey for a huge 75 yard touchdown reception and Caudill's two point conversion gave the Wildcats the lead again at 28-21 with just under three minutes in the third quarter.

The lead was squeezed again as another Butler county TD narrowed the score to 28-27 at the start of the fourth quarter. The game went down to the wire as the Bears were able to execute with just over three minutes to go with another touchdown, adding a two point conversion fora 35-28 lead that would be the final score.

"I saw a ton of great things from our team," said Head Coach Nathan Smith. "We showed that we're tough enough to play football at a high level. We played 14 players offensively and defensively in a very physical football game and controlled it for over three quarters."

Smith said after the game he told his players that although they took the loss, there was still plenty from which to build.  He said of course they wanted the win, but being a non-district match up would not have a major effect, if any, on their playoff situation. "We'll need to fix our mistakes so we will be prepared to play some of the good teams that are in our district," he added.

He said he was most impressed with the toughness showed by his team, and because of it, it took all four quarters and everything the ninth ranked team in the state had in order for them to get the win.

"We wanted it more than Butler County did early on, and it showed. They didn't expect us to be in the ball game as most Bowling Green media outlets picked us to lose by 40. In the end, they just made a few more plays then we did in the 4th quarter."

Smith and his team went back to work today and will prepare for the annual contest against the Grayson County Cougars in an attempt to keep the coveted "Tobacco Stick," the trophy for being the "Tobacco Bowl" winner. It will be the first home game of the season for the Wildcats as they host the Cougars this Friday at ECHS at 7pm. You can listen to WildcatsLive with Scott and Bryan only on EdmonsonVoice.com.