Wildcats Win Big Over Caverna In Season Opener

The Wildcats celebrate their 46-8 win against Caverna.

Darren Doyle, story and photos
The Edmonson County Wildcat football team had no trouble taking care of the Caverna Colonels in Friday night's season opener at BH Weaver Stadium in Caverna as they cruised to a 46-8 victory, giving first year head coach Nathan Smith his first win. 

"A little bit of the pressure's off," he said with a slight grin. "Just a little bit."

The Wildcats got off to a quick start, forcing a turnover and scoring a touchdown in the first 45 seconds of the game. That was followed up by Senior Daniel Caudill's second touchdown of the quarter, a 56 yard kick return. After Brett Brannon's extra points on both touchdowns, the Wildcats led 16-0 just over a minute into the game.

Caudill scored two more touchdowns in the first quarter, a 58 yard fumble return and a 52 yard run. Brannon's extra points ran the Wildcat lead out to 30-0 with just under four minutes to go in the first.

Tucker Cole scored on a 12 yard run and Brannon's extra point made it 37-0 in the second. A 30 yard field goal from Brannon extended the lead to 40-0 at halftime.

Rheece Berkley scored on a 65 yard run to make things 46-0. After a fumbled Wildcat punt, Caverna got on the board then scored a touchdown which would end up being the final score of 46-8.

Coach Smith stressed the importance of the Wildcats' strong start. 

"When you look up and there's only 55 seconds off the clock and you're up 16 to nothing, that makes things much easier for the rest of the time," he said.

Smith said there was some chatter on field that began to frustrate the Wildcats. At halftime, he told his team to keep their mouths and emotions in check.

"When kids get down, they get frustrated, and a lot of things weren't going their (Caverna's) way. We just wanted to be smart. If something happened, we said to just run back to the huddle and start laughing."

A comfortable lead often allows teams to play younger players and reserves. Smith was impressed with play from some of the younger guys.

"Our young 'backs came in and did awesome. Cline and Stethen had good runs, Lucas did, too. The young guys really showed off there."

The Wildcats will take on a tough Butler County team next Friday in Morgantown at 7pm. You can listen live right here on edmonsonvoice.com.