Edmonson County assured itself a chance to practice on Thanksgiving Day when it stunned Russellville 35-13 last week.

With that goal out of the way, Edmonson County (8-4) turns its attention to winning only the second regional title in school history – and the first since 1996 – when it travels Friday to Union County in the Class 3A playoffs.

“It was an important step last week, beating a team like Russellville,” Edmonson County coach Kyle Pierce said. “Our kids played exceptionally well. At this time of year, you just try to do everything you can to keep playing.

“We’ve only won one regional championship in our school’s history, and this is only the third regional championship we’ve been in, so I think our kids are excited about that.”

Union County enters at 7-5 and looked impressive in a 39-13 victory over Butler County last week.

“Union County has a good ball team,” Pierce said. “They beat Butler County pretty handily, so obviously I think that got our kids’ attention. They blocked a couple punts basically for touchdowns. We know we are going to have to play well.”

The Braves are led on offense by sophomore running back Devin Foster, who had more than 1,500 yards rushing in the regular season.

But Pierce said that when teams focus on Foster, Union County is capable of airing it out.

“They do everything from two tight ends to wishbone and then they’ll go five-wide in shotgun,” Pierce said. “They have a really good running back that can catch the ball as well, and they have some good receivers. They like to throw a lot of play action passes. They are a very capable team.”

Edmonson County can run as well, with Zach Vincent emerging as one of the premier backs in the area. After his 264-yard effort in last week’s win against Russellville, Vincent has more than 2,000 yards on the ground with 26 rushing touchdowns.

“Zach has had a great year,” Pierce said. “We know people are going to try to load up the box on us. (Quarterback Brent Smith) is very capable in throwing the football, but he is the first one to tell me he doesn’t mind if we run it as long as we win. That really makes my job a lot easier. It’s kind of a neat group.”

Pierce said the Wildcats need a complete effort if they want to advance to meet either Central or Elizabethtown in the Class 3A semifinals next week. If so, Edmonson County would achieve its newest goal – playing in December.

“There’s never been any team at Edmonson County that has played in December,” Pierce said. “That is something we’ve hit on this week. That would be kind of neat for our kids. I think they are excited about it and know the opportunity that is in front of them.”