Raiders fall to Cardinals

By: Greg Bird

A late touchdown prevented a shut out, but did little to erase the sting of a 42-8 loss to Wayne County Friday night.

Wayne County dominated McCreary throughout the game, scoring five touchdowns on their first five possessions, leading to a running clock for nearly three quarters of football.

The Wayne County starting offense barely broke a sweat; as it was on the field for only 33 seconds in the entire first half. After taking a 36-0 lead with 10:47 left in the half, Wayne County pulled their starters and let their younger players get some playing time. The only possession where Wayne County didn’t score was their final one of the first half, when they lost a fumble on the first play of the series.

The McCreary defense didn’t record their first tackle until midway through the third quarter as the Cardinals racked up 355 total yards in the game. The Raiders, conversely, were completely stymied by the Cardinal defense, gaining only 147 yards through the air, and finishing in negative numbers in rushing (-47).

In a game where McCreary’s offense struggled, the Raiders finally broke through on their final possession of the game. Starting the possession at their own 25, Jones connected with Goins on a 21-yard pass completion to put McCreary near midfield. Two plays later Jones connected with Gregory for a 50-yard catch and run. Gregory sprinted down the sideline, and was finally pushed out of bounds on the Cardinals’ 8.

On the brink of scoring, a McCreary false start backed them up five yards, to the Wayne County 13. On the next play Jones fumbled the snap, but managed to recover and roll out to his left, avoiding a Cardinal pass rush. Jones spotted Brandon Troxell in the corner of the endzone, and connected with the receiver for the touchdown pass. Jones kept the ball on the 2-point conversion, and carried the ball across the goal line to cut the Cardinals’ lead down to 42-8.

With less than three minutes remaining in the game, the Raiders attempted an onside kick, but Wayne County was able to recover the ball and ran out the clock to end the game.

McCreary will travel to Bell County Friday night for their Final District game of the season. The Bobcats are 6-2 this season, and are coming off a 21-20 loss to Corbin last week.