Wednesday, August 30, 2023

AT A GLANCE: McCracken Mustangs to Marion

BY: ANDY HUNT

    
What did each of these players have 44 of during their time as a Rocket?  Read this week's post to find out!

2023 McCracken County 6A (1-1, District 0-0)

  • Week 1 – Paducah Tilghman (4A, 2-0), LOSS, 42-7
  • Week 2 – Apollo (5A, 0-2), WIN, 48-12
  • Week 3 – Crittenden County (2A, 1-1)
  • Week 4 – Mayfield (2A, 2-0)
  • Week 5 – Caldwell County (2A, 0-2)
  • Week 6 – Murray (2A, 2-0)
  • Week 7 – Henderson County (6A, 1-1)*
  • Week 8 – Christian County (3A, 0-1)*
  • Week 9 – Daviess County (3A, 0-2)*
  • Week 10 – Graves County (5A, 0-2)
    • Asterisk (*) denotes district opponent.
    • McCracken County has 93 players on their roster.  (91 players were on the MC roster in 2022).

MC Key Stats for 2023:

  • Passing – Maddox O’Neal (#3, SO) – 24/45, 292 yards, 4 TDs, INT
  • Rushing – Zeno Cornelius (#25, SR) – 32 attempts, 129 yards, TD
  • Rushing – Landon Newman (#44, SO) – 14 attempts, 67 yards
  • Rushing – Maddox O’Neal (#3, SO) – 3 attempts, 30 yards, TD
  • Defense – Cade Churchwell (#6, JR) – 16 tackles, 1.5 TFL, 0.5 Sack
  • Defense – Frankie Nutt (#45, SR) – 11 tackles, 1.5 TFL, 0.5 Sack
  • Defense – Chase Dassing (#33, SR) – 8 tackles, 0.5 TFL, INT
  • Team Defense – 233 Rushing Yards Allowed, 520 Passing Yards Allowed

Head Coach, Jonathan Smith

McCracken County Head Coach, Jonathan Smith. 
Photo Credit: WPSD Local 6
  • This is Jonathan Smith’s second season as McCracken County Head Coach after being hired in March of 2022.  Before being affiliated with the MC football program, Smith was the head coach at Paducah Tilghman for three years going 22-11 during that time.  Smith came to MC as an assistant for the 2021 in which the Mustangs posted a 2-9 record.  Overall, Smith is 3-10 as the skipper of McCracken County.

Schedule Changes for 2023

Last season, McCracken County went 2-9 with their only wins coming against lowly Marshall County and Owensboro Apollo.  Those two teams were 3-8 and 2-9, respectively. 

If you take out the district games (Daviess County, Henderson County, and Christian County) and the two rivalry games of Paducah Tilghman and Mayfield, that leaves you with five games McCracken County has the flexibility to schedule whatever teams it wishes to.

  • In 2022, those five games were filled with:
    • Graves County (5A)
    • Apollo (5A)
    • Bowling Green (5A, lost in state title game in 2022)
    • Marshall County (5A)
    • South Warren (5A, won 2021 state title)
  • In 2023, those five games were filled with:
    • Graves County (5A)
    • Apollo (5A)
    • Murray (2A)
    • Caldwell County (2A)
    • Crittenden County (2A)

McCracken County seems to have a much easier schedule which will most likely produce wins for the 6A program over much smaller schools.  MC has only nine wins since the conclusion of the 2019 season. This total excludes one COVID win, 1-0, over Henderson County.

2023 Class 2A, District 1 Review

  • Mayfield (2-0) – Beat Graves County, 42-7 and Hopkinsville, 59-6.  Next week is against Paducah Tilghman which may prove to be the biggest test of the season for Mayfield.
  • Murray (2-0) – Beat Trigg County, 41-21 and Calloway County, 35-14.  Senior quarterback, Collin Wilson (#8) has 519 yards passing with 5 passing TDs on the season.  Next week against Marshall County before Murray heads to Union County in week 4.
  • Caldwell County (0-2) – Lost to Hopkins Central, 20-14 and Madisonville-North Hopkins, 54-6.  With their strength of schedule, it looks like Crittenden County will see a winless (0-8) Caldwell County team in week 9.  Caldwell County takes on Union County this week.

Playoff Preview Class 2A, District 2

  • Owensboro Catholic (2-0) – Beat Apollo, 42-6, and Daviess County, 50-0.  Brady Atwell (#7, JR) is 41/51 (80.4%) for 607 yards, 9 TDs and an INT.  Atwell is the nephew of 1999 Mr. Kentucky Football, Travis Atwell, which played for Hancock County and beat CC for a district title that season.  OC plays at Greenwood (5A, 2-0) next week.  

          
(L-R): Brady Atwell and Travis Atwell.  
Photo Credits: The Owensboro Messenger and the Associated Press
  • Todd County Central (1-1) – Lost to Monroe County, 34-7, and beat Ohio County, 19-7, last week.  TCC has a balanced attack this season with 180 passing yards and 178 rushing yards so far.  Todd will play at Webster County (3A) this week.
  • Edmonson County (0-2) – Lost to Grayson County, 14-7, and Metcalfe County, 34-20.  Edmonson travels to Muhlenberg County this week.
  • Fort Campbell (1-1) – Beat Clarksville Northwest (TN), 20-17, and lost to Hopkins County Central, 60-28.  FC takes on Trigg County at home this week.

Record Breaker Watch

  • Micah Newcom
    • Passing Yards – Career
      • 4. Nick Castiller – 2,814
      • 5. Jamie Curtis - 2,813
      • 6. Micah Newcom – 2,720
      • 7. J.D. Gray – 2,172
      • 8. Turner Martin – 1,840
      • 9. Sean Thompson – 1,757
    • Micah Newcom has 204 completions in his career which ranks 5th all-time.  Next up are Austin Berry with 227, Nick Castiller with 234, Luke Crider with 283, and Hunter Boone with 489.
    • Micah Newcom has 310 passing attempts during his time as Rocket which is the 8th most in that category for a career.  Next up are J.D. Gray (2006-2009) with 320 and Turner Martin (1978-1981) with 362.
    • Passing Touchdowns – Career
      • 1. Hunter Boone (2015-2018) – 84
      • 2. Luke Crider (2018-2021) – 49
      • 3. Austin Berry (2002-2005) – 47
      • 4. Micah Newcom (2020-Present) – 30
      • 5. J.D. Gray (2006-2009) – 24
    • Yards of Offense (Passing and Rushing Yards) – Career
      • 5. Nick Castiller (2012-2015) – 3,894
      • 6. Austin Berry (2002-2005) – 3,849
      • 7. Devon Nesbitt (2015-2018) – 3,572
      • 8. Jamie Curtis (1989-1992) – 3,356
      • 9. Micah Newcom (2020-Present) – 3,152
      • 10. Jimmy Hopper (1960-1963) – 3,028 (stats incomplete)
    • Micah Newcom has been responsible for 43 total career TDs.  This ranks him tied for 10th in career TDs responsible for.  Next up are Xander Tabor, Rodney Robertson, Dennis Mott with 44 and T.K. Guess with 48.
  • Caden Howard
    • Consecutive Games with a Reception
      • 11. Bobby Knox – 12 (1 reception - 2011; 11 receptions - 2012)
      • 12. Brysen Baker – 11
      • 12. Caden Howard – 11 (9- '22; 2- '23)
      • 14. Branen Lamey – 10 (3- '16; 7- '17)
      • 15. Branen Lamey – 9
      • 15. Preston Morgeson – 9 (5- '21; 4- '22)

Last Week in Review

  • CC had four first downs last week.  CC has had fewer first downs in the last 336 games only three times (2014 Owensboro Catholic, 2014 Murray, 2003 Muhlenberg North).  The school record for the fewest is one against Russellville in 1994.
  • Union County had nine more first downs than CC, 13-4.  The last time CC had a wider negative disparity in first downs was 2021 against Union County, 20-10.
  • Union County only attempted 3 passes last week, it was been 92 games (2015 Russellville, 0) since a CC opponent attempted less passes in a game.
  • The difference in total yards last week was 301 between Union County (365) and CC (64).  The last time there had been a larger difference in favor of the opponent was 2014 against Owensboro Catholic when the difference was 527 yards (101 games ago).
  • The six passing completions by CC were the second fewest in a game in the last 31 games (2021, Fulton County, 4).
  • The last time an opponent scored five or more rushing touchdowns before last week was 2021 against Union County.
Rocket Rewind

Take a quick look back at this All-WKC squad from the early 90s.

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