Wildcats Put Bears Back In Hibernation With 54-12 Win

Chance Lucas (20) gets past Butler County's Jordan Todd (33) for one of his three touchdowns on the night.

Darren Doyle, story and photos:
The Wildcats defeated the Butler County Bears Friday night in Brownsville at the Wildcat Stadium home opener in a dominating 54-12 win.  Led by senior Chance Lucas' 95-yard, three-touchdown night, the Wildcats righted the ship from last Friday's brutal loss against Portland.

Matt Shaw put the Cats on the board early as he scored on a 17-yard touchdown with just over four minutes to go in the first quarter. Clay Walden's kick was good and Edmonson led 7-0. After the Wildcat defense held the Bears, EC took possession again and Lucas notched his first touchdown of the night--a 10 yard run with just under a minute to go in the first. Walden's kick was good again for a 14-0 lead.

Clay Walden kicks an extra point from Skylar Cline (28).

Just seconds into the second quarter, quarterback Jon Smith connected with Brock Stethen on a 48-yard touchdown pass. Walden split the uprights again for a 21-0 lead. 

Soon after, Butler County created some offense and Zack Silcox scored on a 3-yard run; however, the extra point was no good and the lead was cut to 21-6 with 7:21 left in the quarter.

The first kickoff at ECHS for the 2019 season.

Jon Smith with a pass against Butler County.

On the Wildcats next possession, it was Smith and Stethen again, this time on a 52-yard pass and touchdown, with Walden notching another extra point for a 28-6 lead. The Bears didn't have long to put together offense on their next possession. Edmonson County's Isaiah Johnson picked off Jagger Henderson's pass and ran it back for a 60-yard interception touchdown. Walden didn't connect on the extra point, but Edmonson had stretched their lead to 34-6 with just over 5 mins left in the half.

The Bears squeezed another touchdown as the Cats took a 34-12 lead into the field house at the half. Lucas was big yet again, this time in the third with two more touchdown runs, first a 30-yarder, then 33 yards more as the quarter was winding down. Edmonson stretched their lead to 47-12 to put the game out of reach for the Bears. 

Edmonson would score once more on Isaiah Johson's huge 68-yard pass from Smith just as the fourth quarter got underway for the final score of 54-12. 

Coach Nathan Smith discussed the performance and the big night from Lucas.

"Chance has working his hind-end off," said Smith. "He's lifting after practice, he's working hard. We toyed with the idea of putting him in the backfield in the off season because he was a little bit small and I went and talked to him about it. He's really committed himself to getting bigger and stronger so he's able to break some tackles and make big runs like that."

Lucas wasn't the only bright spot of the game and Smith commended his entire team.

"We've got a great group of kids, and I know I say that every year, but they just keep getting better," he said. "They don't give me any trouble, they're not in trouble at school, they're pretty good in the classroom, they're good around the field house, and I trust them. That's a big thing. I've had football teams with players that it's hard to trust them sometimes. I trust every player on this team and they work hard for me. I just really love them for it."

Edmonson County moves to 1-1 on the season and will travel to Grayson County next Friday for the annual "Tobacco Bowl," in an attempt to repossess the coveted tobacco stick. Pregame show is set for 6:45pm with the WildcatsLive crew on the Edmonson Voice, with kickoff scheduled for 7pm.