Rockets railroad Lake County

DRAFFENVILLE, Ky. - Crittenden County rode the red-eye train to an impressive season-opening victory 54-21 over Lake County, Tenn., Friday night in the second game of a doubleheader in the Purchase Area Alliance Bowl. 

The game started after 9 p.m., and wasn't over until a quarter to midnight. Host Marshall County easily beat Heath in the opening game.

The late hours didn't slow the Rocket railroad job. Running back Rodney Robertson scored five touchdowns and rushed for 258 yards to lead the onslaught. Quarterback J.D. Gray rushed for 109 yards and fullback Gaige Courtney scored twice.

Crittenden got some very impressive defensive play against a potent Lake County team. The Rockets limited the Falcons to fewer than 100 yards and only three first downs until the reserves went in late in the contest and Lake went down the field for two fourth-quarter touchdowns.

After a game-opening interception on a halfback pass by Tanner Nix failed to catch Lake County off guard, Crittenden turned to the more reliable running game and flattened their west Tennessee Class A counterparts. The Rockets scored on their next eight possessions and got an early safety when defensive end Dylan Clark tackled the Falcon QB in the end zone.

Clark kept the defense cracking all night, forcing two turnovers and four punts from the Lake County offense, which had reeled off 35 points the week before in a season-opening win against Trenton (Tenn.) Peabody.

"We got after them tonight," Rocket coach Al Starnes said, pointing to a defense that registered at least a half dozen jaw-dropping tackles and consistently pinned down the Falcons. Crittenden posted 10 tackles for loss during the contest. Lake County rushed for only 25 yards.

While Clark, Aaron Berry, Gaige Courtney, Robertson and Terry Werne were heading the defensive pinch, Crittenden's rushing game was stealing the show. The Rockets gained 440 yards on the ground as QB Gray handed off 50 times and completed just one of four passes. 

Crittenden County 54, Lake County 21

SCORE BY QUARTERS
Lake County 8    0    0    13
Crittenden   16   24   14   0

SCORING
CC-Safety on Dylan Clark tackle, 11:42, 1st
CC-Rodney Robertson 4 run (J.R. Adams kick) 7:42, 1st
LC-Carlos Young 12 run (Patrick Robertson pass from Young) 5:38, 1st
CC-Gaige Courtney 5 run (Adams kick) :46, 1st
CC-Robertson 7 run (Adams kick) 9:26, 2nd
CC-Courtney 17 run (Adams kick) 4:59, 2nd
CC-Robertson 2 run (Adams kick) 2:42, 2nd
CC-Adams 28 field goal, :36, 1st
CC-Robertson 3 run (Adams kick) 8:56, 3rd
CC-Robertson 34 run (Adams kick) 2:18, 3rd
LC-Rafeal Tyler 56 pass from Young (Chris Mills kick) 7:35, 4th
LC-Robertson 3 pass from Sam Hayes, :00, 4th

First Downs: Crittenden 19, Lake 8
Penalites: Crittenden 4-23, Lake 2-30
Rushing: Crittenden 50-440, Lake 19-25
Passing: Crittenden 1-5-1, 5 yds., Lake 11-20-0, 190 yds.
Total Yards: Crittenden 445, Lake 215

INDIVIDUAL
Rushing

Crittenden-Rodney Robertson 31-258, J.D. Gray 7-109, Gaige Courtney 5-47, Andrew Freeman 4-26, Tanner Nix 3-4. Lake: Young 2-21, Trevor Blythe 7-16, Hayes 3-(-14), Ricky Boyd 1-(-4), Dominic Kimble 3-(-2), Derrell Avery 3-8..
Passing

Crittenden-Gray 1-4-0, 5 yds., Nix 0-1-1. Lake-Young 3-4-0, 120 yds., Hayes 8-16-0, 70 yds.
Receiving

Crittenden-Joey Pluskota 1-5. Lake-Robertson 3-52, Kimble 2-27, Young 2-22, Boyd 1-12, Blythe 1-9.