Woodford County (4-1) vs. Lafayette (4-1) September 27, 2002

This is a key mid season matchup for both teams.  Both teams enter tonight with a 4-1 record but both teams have strong competition the remainder of the season and need a win tonight to maintain momentum.  The Woodford County Yellowjackets, coached by Dan Cassity, upset Dunbar last week in the mud.  The Yellowjackets have a solid senior class with 18 seniors on the roster.  Coach Cassity has gotten consistent play from 6-1 185 pound senior QB Eric Sobolewski. 

Lafayette coach Mike Harmon appears to have General football back on the winning track.  The strength of Lafayette has been the punishing ground attack led by Elrazor Sharp and Michael Murray.  Sharp has rushed for 819 yards and nine touchdowns so far this season.  Lafayette has been a strong second half team outscoring their opponents 102-38 during this period. 

Lafayette scored two touchdowns in the final 1:18 to defeat Woodford County by a score of 34-15.  Tonight's contest was defined by turnovers and big plays.  Woodford County held a 255-192 edge in total offense but was guilty of seven turnovers.  Matt Brown gave Woodford County a 3-0 lead in the first quarter with a 30 yards field goal.  Lafayette's Michael Murray returned the ensuing kickoff 94 yards to give Lafayette a 6-3 lead.  Spencer Fain increased the margin to 14-3 in the second period with a 62 yard interception return.  Woodford County's Mike Woolfork scored on a nine yard TD run to close the deficit to 14-9 at halftime. 

Myron Russell scored on a one yard run late in the third quarter to give Lafayette a 21-9 margin entering the final period.  Eric Sobolewski scored on a 35 yard run to pull Woodford County within six, 21-15 with 7:13 remaining in the game.  Woodford County was hurt late in the game by a penalty as they gained an apparent first down on a third-and-ten play but the Yellowjackets were called for offensive pass interference.  They failed on a fourth down play and Lafayette took over on the Woodford County 12 yard line.  Elrazor Sharp gave Lafayette a 28-15 lead on a 12 yard TD run with 1:18 remaining on the clock.  Woodford County fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Lafayette recovered on Woodford County's nine yard line.  Brian Dinger scored on a nine yard run to close out the scoring for the evening. 

Lafayette was led on the ground tonight by Elrazor Sharp who carried the ball 22 times for 89 yards and a score.  Spencer Fain caught two passes for 58 yards and also had two interceptions.  6-4 192 pound Jr. DE Bilal El-Amin led the General defense with seven unassisted tackles.  5-9 258 pound Sr. DL Brian Crutchfield added six solo and three assisted tackles.  Mike Woolfork led Woodford County with 91 yards and one score on 17 rushing attempts.  The Yellowjacket defense was led by 6-2 190 pound Sr. LB Kyle Vanzant with seven solo and five assisted tackles.  Cliff Pettyjohn, a 6-0 190 pound Sr. LB, added five solo and six assisted tackles. 

Scoring Summary

Lafayette

34

Woodford County

15

School	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Final
Woodford County	3	6	0	6	15
Lafayette	6	8	7	13	34

WC	- Matt Brown 30 yard field goal
L	- Michael Murray 94 yard kickoff return (kick failed)
L	- Spencer Fain 62 yard interception return (Cecil Jones run)
WC	- Mike Woolfork 9 yard run (kick blocked)
L	- Myron Russell 1 yard run (Kevin Minke kick)
WC	- Eric Sobolewski 35 yard run (run failed)
L	- Elrazor Sharp 12 yard run (Minke kick)
L	- Brian Dinger 9 yard run (kick failed)

 

Selected Statistics
 

Woodford County						Lafayette
Rushing	No.	Yds.	Avg.	Long		Rushing	No.	Yds.	Avg.	Long
Mike Woolfork	17	91	5.4	15		Elrazor Sharp	22	89	4.0	13
Eric Sobolewski	6	50	8.3	35		Cecil Jones	6	21	3.5	8
Lionel Thornton	5	49	9.8	52		Michael Murray	7	21	3.0	9
Mike Rutoskey	7	19	2.7	10		Myron Russell	4	10	2.5	4
						Spencer Fain	1	6	6.0	6
						Brian Dinger	2	1	0.5	9
						Justin Albrecht	1	-7	-7.0	0
Passing	A-C-I	Yds.	TD	Long		Passing	A-C-I	Yds.	TD	Long
Eric Sobolewski	14-3-3	25	0	19		Brian Dinger	3-2-0	58	0	49
Mike Woolfork	1-0-0	0	0	0		Justin Albrecht	0-0-0	0	0	0
Matt Brown	1-1-0	21	0	21
Receiving	No.	Yds.	TD	Long		Receiving	No.	Yds.	TD	Long
Chase Aitkin	2	40	0	21		Spencer Fain	2	58	0	49
Matt Brown	1	4	0	4
Lionel Thornton	1	2	0	2

Acknowledgements

A special thanks to both Woodford County and Lafayette coaching staffs for the information provided about their teams.  Also, a special thanks to WL Stats for providing the comprehensive stats for tonight's game. 

Other Area Games of Interest

Paul Dunbar

28

Tates Creek

21

Dunbar played great defense late in the game to overcome 190 yards on the ground by Tate Creek's Tray Hughes to gain a district win.  For a complete write-up of this game, click [here]. 
 

Henry Clay

34

Bryan Station

13

David Buchanan passed for three TDs to lead the Blue Devils to victory.
 

Lexington Catholic

36

Anderson County

0

QB Jacob Doss set a new state record by throwing for a TD in 31 straight games.  Tim Couch had held the previous record of 30 games. 
 

Trinity

16

St. Xavier

0

Top ranked Trinity defeated St. Xavier before 32,978 fans.
 

Madison Southern

41

Grant County

8

Malachi Maxwell rushed for 255 yards and five touchdowns on 17 carries to lead the Eagles to their fifth consecutive win of the year. 
 

West Jessamine

50

Lincoln County

0

QB Nate Johnson was 8 for 8 for 148 yards and five touchdown passes to pace the West Jessamine Colts. 
 

Frankfort	49	Lexington Christian	7
Covington Holy Cross	30	Paris	12
Southwestern	27	Clark County	18
Belfry	20	Pikeville	13
Boyle County	58	Marion County	0
Oldham County	28	Danville	27
Breathitt County	49	Hazard	7
Bourbon County	52	Western Hills	17
Henderson County	46	Madisonville	18
Madison Central	51	Clay County	6
Mason County	61	Bath County	6
Mercer County	54	Owen County	9
Pleasure Ridge Park	41	Bullitt Central	0
Warren Central	27	John Hardin	7
Glasgow	49	Hart County	20
Hopkinsville	15	Christian County	7
Lloyd Memorial	28	Carroll County	7
Male	56	Owensboro	21
Manual	45	Southern	6
Mayfield	28	Paducah Tilghman	22
North Hardin	24	Nelson County	21
Perry County Central	50	Powell County	12
Dixie Heights	21	Highlands	14	(OT)