With Homecoming Win, Focus Now On District Play

photo by Kathy Meredith

ECHS Athletics

The Edmonson County Wildcat football team fought off a tough Metcalfe County squad last Friday night in Brownsville by a score of 23-14.

The Wildcats and Hornets traded possessions throughout the early part of the game. The Hornets got on the board first when they broke a 51-yard run for a touchdown. The extra point was wide to keep the score 6-0 with 8:51 left in the half. The Wildcats answered right back with a 3-play, 60 yard drive that was capped off with a 10-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Jake Dial to senior receiver Dakota Carner. Freshmen kicker Brett Brannon added the extra point for a 7-6 lead with 7:47 left in the half. Both teams traded possession to end the first half.

The Wildcats used a good 2nd half opening drive to get inside field goal range but the ball was partially blocked. The Wildcat defense wasted no time coming up with a big play of its own. Senior outside linebacker Drew Decker stepped in front of a Hornet receiver for an interception and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown. The extra point was no good to keep the score at 13-6 with 5:17 left in the third quarter. On the ensuing kickoff the Wildcats came up with another big play as senior Marcus Kinser stripped the ball away from a Hornet and junior Jacob Peger recovered the fumble. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Dial scored a 1-yard touchdown run on quarterback sneak. Brannon added the extra point for a 20-6 lead with 11:57 left in the fourth quarter. The Hornets stormed back and scored on a 7-yard touchdown pass. The Hornets scored a two-point conversion to pull the score closer to 20-14 with 7:57 left in the game. The Wildcats moved the ball downfield but were stopped on a 4th and 4 play at the Hornet 20 yard line. The Wildcats defense held the Hornets and forced a punt. The Wildcat offense moved the ball back to the Hornet 16-yard line. On 4th and 3, the Wildcats chose to try a 33 yard field goal. Brannon split the uprights for a successful field goal to push the Wildcat lead to 23-14 with 1:15 left in the game. The Wildcat defense held the Hornets on four straight plays to give the Wildcat offense the ball to kneel and run out the clock for a 23-14 victory.

Head football coach Kyle Pierce says that the Wildcats had to earn the win. “I’m happy for our kids. We worked hard during the week, in the game, and we came out with a win. We’ve had two tough, close losses and wining a close one will help us down the road. We had some guys step up and make some big plays that we haven’t seen yet. So that's a good sign. We still have things to fix but our goal has always been to be playing our best football at the end of the season. We want to peak then.”

The Wildcats now will have four district games with an open week after the first two games. The first being at home against South Warren this Friday night. “We now will focus all on our district opponents. We are in a very strong district. We start off with South Warren, who many are calling the #1 ranked team in Class AAA. They are definitely worthy of that. They have a big school with many talented players. They're well coached and they play hard. They can only play 11 guys at one time, so we'll have to have our 11 beat their 11. That’s football. We'll have to play extremely well.”

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 CST in Brownsville. It will also be Little League and Middle School night as football players from both will be honored. 

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