Meade County quarterback Jake Wilson passed the ball during Friday night's game against Warren Central at Warren Central High School in Bowling Green, Ky., Sept. 7, 2012. (Photo by Nathan Morgan/Daily News)

Warren Central never could quite pull away from Meade County on Friday night.

The Dragons (4-0) dominated on the stat sheet – outgaining the Green Wave 352-169 – but had to grind to a 21-7 win over their Class 6A foe at WCHS.

“They’re really beat up and played their rear ends off,” WCHS coach Mike Rogers said of Meade County. “We’re banged up, too, but we did what we had to win the ballgame.”

What the Dragons did well was run the football. They racked up 242 yards on the ground, including 107 from senior running back Kenin Reed.

“We’ve got to practice – practice and play harder,” Reed said. “It shouldn’t have been a close game, but it was.”

For all Warren Central’s yardage, Meade County (1-3), which played Class 5A power John Hardin last week, scored the game’s first touchdown and trailed 13-7 at halftime.

But even when the Dragons couldn’t find the end zone, they stifled the Green Wave’s running attack, limiting them to 31 rushing yards – 11 in the second half.

“That’s one of the best teams in the state right there,” Meade County coach Larry Mofield said. “You’ve got to give them credit. They hit us so hard. I think we were a little worried about getting hit over the middle. I think our linemen were a little concerned about getting manhandled up front, and it showed.

“We’ll knock our scout team all week, and then we come out here under the lights, and our knees start knocking together.”

The Dragons outgained Meade County 211-95 in the first half but had little to show for it.

WCHS senior quarterback Michael Bush threw an interception on the opening drive, which the Green Wave turned into the game’s first score three plays later on a 28-yard pass from quarterback Jake Wilson to receiver Nick O’Brien.

Reed responded with a 38-yard touchdown run at the 6:47 mark of the first quarter.

“I had to get the team back on their feet,” Reed said. “They were feeling down, so I had to pick them back up.”

The Dragons’ offense didn’t find the end zone again before halftime. Their final three possessions of the first half ended with a lost fumble and two turnovers on downs.

One of those fourth-down failures came at the Meade County 4-yard line, but the Warren Central defense picked up the slack.

The Green Wave fumbled on their first play deep in their own territory, and senior defensive end Darius Jackson returned the ball 3 yards for a score to give WCHS a 13-7 lead with 6:48 left in the first half.

“Things weren’t going our way there, and that really got us over the edge,” Rogers said. “They did a good job of slowing our offense down, and we haven’t been through that yet. We needed the defense to step up there.”

Warren Central sophomore running back Emmitt Smith scored on a 5-yard run about five minutes into the third quarter, and Meade County stumbled the rest of the way through a series of interceptions, punts and turnovers on downs.

The Green Wave had 74 total yards in the second half. Their leading rusher was Wilson, who had 22 yards on the ground and completed 10 of 25 passes for 138 yards with two interceptions.

Bush was 6 of 17 passing for 110 yards. Of Bush’s six completions, four went to junior receiver Chris Porter-Bunton for 56 yards.

The Dragons start district competition at 7 p.m. Friday at home against Barren County.

“We’ve just got to find a way to improve our practice habits and get better at what we do,” Rogers said.

MCHS    7    0    0    0    – 7

WCHS    7    6    8    0 – 21

First quarter

MC – Nick O’Brien 28 pass from Jake Wilson (Zach Bogard kick), 8:45

WC – Kenin Reed 38 run (Nathan Bowen kick), 6:47

Second quarter

WC – Darius Jackson 3 fumble return (pass failed), 6:48

Third quarter

WC – Emmitt Smith 5 run (Chris Porter-Bunton pass from Michael Bush), 6:35