Meade County’s fearsome pass rush forced host Warren Central into three costly first-quarter fumbles that keyed scoring drives and helped the Green Wave swamp the host Dragons 58-14 on Friday night at Dragons Stadium.

Warren Central (0-4) lost five fumbles in all, making it a long night for the Dragons’ defense against Meade County (2-2). To compound the trouble, Warren Central committed nine first-half penalties for 110 yards.

“We shot ourselves in the foot,” Warren Central coach Joel Taylor said. “You try to go out and play with some energy and some effort and you do those things, penalties, turnovers – I mean, they doom you. There’s no way around it.”

The Green Wave took advantage early and often, scoring three straight touchdowns after recovering fumbles in Warren Central territory. Touchdown runs by Meade County’s John Lee (3 yards) and Zach Babb (14 yards) sandwiched a 32-yard scoring strike from quarterback Zane Powers to Chesney Weick to give Meade County a commanding 20-0 first-quarter lead.

It was a solid start following Meade County’s 41-0 shutout victory against Breckinridge County last week for the team’s first win of the season.

“I think everybody’s starting to buy in a little bit, you know,” said Babb, a junior running back/cornerback. “When you win, more and more people buy in every single week.”

The Green Wave tacked on two more scores in the first half, as Cody Janes capped a five-play, 79-yard drive with a 27-yard touchdown run with 8:43 left in the half before Powers struck again with a 14-yard TD pass to C.J. Hylander with 18 seconds left before the break.

The Dragons found some life to start the second half when Meade County’s punter was ruled down on a bad snap deep in his own territory. Warren Central’s D.J. Tyner ran for a 4-yard touchdown on the next play to break up the shutout.

After Powers’ third touchdown pass of the game, a 19-yarder to Janes that capped seven-play, 80-yard drive following the Dragons’ score, Tyner struck again with an electrifying 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

That would do it for Warren Central, as the Green Wave tacked on two more touchdowns – a 3-yard TD run by Bryce Dawson late in the third quarter and a 15-yard scoring run from Deshawn Welch in the fourth.

“We needed something good to happen to us,” Meade County coach Larry Mofield said. “We came off a shellacking at the hands of PRP. I mean, it was a major beatdown. We kind of got down after that, but hopefully our kids have rallied back. We’ve got to keep these two wins in perspective, though. It’s better to win than to lose, but you’ve also got to use them and see where your mistakes are and correct those mistakes.”

Powers finished with 84 passing yards after completing 5-of-10 passes for three TDs and an interception. Lee led the Green Wave with 99 rushing yards.

Warren Central sophomore quarterback Xavier Patrick-Brown, who was sacked eight times, was 6-of-12 passing for 73 yards. The Dragons were held to negative rushing yardage.

“I really thought what they would try and do was get us in a double-slot set and get us in a three-man front and try to run (Patrick-Brown) on us all night because he’s an outstanding athlete,” Mofield said. “(Tyner) is, too – I know they’re young, and if they stick to it they’re going to be fine.”

Meade County 20 13 19 6 – 58

Warren Central 0 0 14 0 – 14

First quarter

MC: Lee 3 run (kick blocked), 7:18

MC: Weick 32 pass from Zane Powers (Luis Bravo kick), 6:54

MC: Babb 14 run (Bravo kick), 4:26

Second quarter

MC: Janes 27 run (Bravo kick), 8:43

MC:  Hylander 14 pass from Powers (run failed), 0:18

Third quarter

WC: Tyner 4 run (Mirnes Jasarevic kick), 10:03

MC: Janes 19 pass from Powers (kick blocked), 7:29

MC: Lee 1 run (kick failed), 4:21

WC: Tyner 96 kickoff return (Jasarevic kick), 3:57

MC: Dawson 3 run (Zach Mofield kick), 1:14

Fourth quarter

MC: Welch 15 run (kick failed), 6:19