Lorenzo Linsey threw for 59 yards and a touchdown and ran for 26 yards and two scores while German Ruiz rushed for 180 yards and a TD to lead Wayne County to a 41-16 win at Warren East on Friday night.
Warren East trailed by just four at 20-16 at halftime but was outscored 21-0 in the second half to suffer its first loss of the season. With the Cardinals’ win, they improved to 3-0 all-time against the Raiders.
Trevor Naftel led the way for the Raiders (2-1) with 164 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries while Caleb Huskey recorded a 53-yard TD reception. Dwayne Cook tossed for 71 yards and a score but also threw three interceptions.
As Wayne County won the coin toss and deferred its option to the second half, Warren East took advantage of receiving the opening kickoff and got its offense rolling quickly.
On the very first play of the game, Naftel took a handoff from Cook and sprinted 65 yards downfield into the back of the end zone. Just 18 seconds into the contest, the Raiders led 7-0 over Wayne County.
The Cardinals evened the score with a rushing touchdown of their own just over two minutes after East’s TD. Ruiz ran from 14 yards out to record his first score of the night, but a failed two-point conversion kept East in front at 7-6 at the 9:15 mark of the opening quarter.
Wayne County took its first lead with 3:06 remaining in the first on Linsey’s four-yard run. The Cardinals’ second two-point conversion try of the night failed again, but they held a 12-7 advantage after 12 minutes of play.
Linsey tallied his second rushing touchdown on a two-yard run early midway through the second period. His score — and Wayne’s first successful two-point try of the affair — made it 20-7 with 7:06 left in the half.
Warren East cut its deficit to 20-13 on Cook’s 53-yard touchdown strike to Huskey at the 6:12 mark, and Eddie Cano’s successful 22-yard field goal attempt made the scoreboard read 20-16 at the break.
After two complete quarters, Naftel had 125 yards rushing for the Raiders while Ruiz had 95 for the Cardinals.
Wayne County came out of the locker room after halftime and went to work.
Linsey began his team’s dominant second half with his first touchdown pass of the game — a 21-yard toss to Stetson Simpson — at the 9:38 mark of the third. Just before the end of the quarter, Aubrey Weaver intercepted Cook and returned it for a 52-yard TD to push the Cardinals’ advantage to 34-16 entering the final period.
Caugen Wallace’s three-yard rushing score with 1:08 remaining put the icing on the cake.
Warren East will return to action Friday at 7 p.m. in a road contest at Edmonson County. Wayne County travels to Boyle County Friday, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
— Follow Sports Insider Tyler Mansfield on Twitter at @_TylerMansfield. —
