Wildcats Win Big on Senior Night Over Breckinridge

Cats Win 38-6

Senior Jude Clemons rushes into the end zone for a touchdown against Breckinridge County.

Darren Doyle, story and photos:
It's been an up-and-down season for the Wildcats, and when you consider last season, more downs than ups; however, this year's senior Wildcats as well as the rest of the team, were up tonight with a big win over Breckinridge County on Senior Night 2022, winning 38-6.

Edmonson County got on the board early and never looked back. Michael Mills scored on a 23-yard TD run as senior Daren Alexander converted on the two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead with 9:13 in the first quarter.

After the Tigers fumbled and the Cats recovered, senior Zander Bass scored on a 20-yard run, and a good two-point conversion made it 16-0 for the Cats with 6:33 to go in the first.

Senior Zander Bass (11) fights off a Breckinridge County defender on his way to a touchdown.

The Cats got the ball down to the two-yard line with seconds to go in the first, and as the second quarter started, Edmonson County was charged with a 10-yard penalty. It would then be senior Jude Clemons who rushed in for the TD. The conversion attempt was no good but the Cats led 22-0 with 11:40 in the second.

The game would finally be decided on some huge plays from the Wildcats, with Michael Mills scoring on 54-yard touchdown and another two-point conversion. Peyton Keith would then later score on a 64-yard TD, and with another conversion, the Cats led 38-0, which would be the score at the half.

Mills had an easy touchdown run but actually ran it out of bounds at the one-yard line in an attempt to give some other Wildcats a chance to score. With Edmonson County being the victim of several beat downs and the score being run up on them over the past couple of seasons, fans were glad to see the sportsmanship of the Cats as plays were run to give other guys opportunities that don't get a lot of touches to run the ball.

Senior Nolan Martin (72) recovers a fumble against Breckinridge County.

Senior Tyler Anderson (1) reaches for a pass against a Breckinridge County defender.

Breckinridge's Ladarian Parker (6) is taken down by Edmonson County seniors Austin Cherry (66) and David Brewer (12).

Senior Owen Still (30) leads the Wildcat kickoff.

Junior Michael Mills rushes for a touchdown against Breckinridge County.

Breckinridge would eventually get a touchdown in the 4th quarter but the Wildcats had already sealed the deal earlier in the game.

Coach Zach Vincent discussed the win tonight, but talked more about the 11 seniors than anything else in his post game interview.

He went through each senior in the lineup and shared his thoughts on each player and their contributions to the team.

"Tyler Anderson, a great athlete," he said. "The only thing I could ever be mad about Tyler, and I tell him this all the time, he didn't play all four years. He came out as a freshman, great kid and great athlete, can cut up but knows when to cut it off."

"Zander Bass, also a great athlete and I hate what happened to him--he went down the first game. He's just big-hearted, such a competitive athlete. I mean, he just wants to win, he wants to score."

"David Brewer got introduced to football this year. And as he said before, 'I love it, I wished I'd done if for four years. He's always got a smile on him. I've never seen him when he didn't have a smile on him."

"Daren Alexander, me and him go way back. You gotta love him--he goofs around, but it's just amazing how he can be the guy that cuts up and then get serious."

"Peyton Keith turned into a pretty good leader, I think. I mean, we had the quarterback position open, he didn't win it right off the bat, played a different position, took that linebacker position, played it well, then took the quarterback position in a different style."

"Owen Still had some issues early, he's got some knee issues, but just a kid who's very passionate. People forget about the kickers, but he used to come out here and punt every day...a good, passionate kid where he thinks he can make the team better."

"Jude Clemons, you cannot meet a more passionate, big-hearted kid than Jude. He wants to win, not just for himself but for the team. He's a big team guy."

"Caden Swihart, a good, hard worker, great lineman," Coach Vincent said. "He's got good leadership skills and helping coaching guys on the sideline. He went down with a knee injury and has almost turned into a coach."

"Monte Orvis: hard-working-kid. If you saw Monte his first year here, he looked like a spaghetti noodle. But a kid that not only works hard during the season, but working during the off season, lifting weights. He's got a goal and he's very focused on his goal."

"Austin Cherry is a kid that's kind of like a Swiss Army knife. He can play left tackle, left guard, tight end, running back. He just wants to play and he doesn't care as long as he gets to hit somebody or beat up on the opposing team."

"Nolan Martin is a good kid and everybody loves him," Vincent said. "Like David (Brewer), always got a smile on his face, got a big heart, and let me tell you something, there's a monster in there and when it does wake up, I don't want to be on the other side of him."

Vincent also talked about the upcoming game next Friday against Lexington Catholic, a team that is heavily favored against the Wildcats.

"Don't put us down. These kids have some fight about them," he said. "I think we play better as underdogs a little bit, I think we have a little bit of fire in us in the second half, it's like I tell the kids every day, we gotta play four quarters. If we can do that, I think we can be very competitive next week."

Edmonson County improves to 3-7 on the season while Breckinridge County finished the regular season 0-10.

The Cats will travel to Lexington for a 6:30PM central time game start (7:30 local time) for a first round playoff.