PADUCAH, Ky. – When nothing was clicking Friday for the Rockets at McCracken County, it could have turned out to be a long night. Instead, the mercy-rule’s continuous clock came in clutch.
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| CamRon Belcher scores at TD |
McCracken, winless coming into the contest, scored early and often en route to a 42-12 win over the now 1-2 Rockets.
A CCHS fumble deep in its own territory on the opening series let the Mustangs gallop in for the event’s first touchdown. Then the hosts caught their guests napping and covered an onside kick that led to another TD, making it 13-0 two and half minutes into the show.
With the Rocket defense poor on pursuit and missing tackles against the more physical 6A opponent, McCracken built an insurmountable 27-6 lead by first quarter’s end. The only bright spot was a 74-yard scoring pass from CCHS quarterback Quinn Summers over the middle to Caden Howard, who finished with four catches for 137 yards. Summers completed 13-of-20 passes for 191 yards, but the CCHS running game was non-existent, finishing in a negative figure.
Inability of the CCHS offense to move the chains and a couple of short punts allowed the Mustangs fortuitous field position in the first half. Crittenden had just three first downs, one in the first half against the McCracken regulars. The Mustangs had 15, all but one in the first half.
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| CCHS's defense tackles a ballcarrier |
After trailing 42-6 at intermission, Crittenden scored the last half’s only touchdown when CamRon Belcher snatched a ball away from a MCHS defender in the end zone for a 29-yard touchdown.
“Things started to crumble from the start,” said CCHS coach Gaige Courtney. “They outplayed us offensively, defensively, on special teams and out-coached us. It’s on me. I have to get our guys better.”
The coach felt like his team was flat out of the chute and that never bodes well in an atmosphere like McCracken County, in a stadium that looks more like a small college than a high school.
“You have to be ready to play. It seemed like we were hoping it would just come to us. You have to go out and take a game like this,” he added. “They’re very physical, a very good team and have a lot of weapons.”
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Crittenden County 6 0 0 6
McCracken County 27 15 0 0
SCORING PLAYS
M-Landon Newman 6 run (Brock Wilson kick) 10:40, 1st
M-Cooper Falconite 31 pass from Maddox O’Neal (kick blocked) 9:56, 1st
M-Newman 12 run (Wilson kick) 4:11, 1st
C-Caden Howard 74 pass from Quinn Summers (kick failed) 3:51, 1st
M-Falconite 10 pass from O’Neal (Wilson kick) 1:01, 1st
M-Dawson Hayden 7 run (Wilson kick) 11:24, 2nd
M-Reed Brookshire 22 pass from O’Neal (Newcom run) 5:19, 2nd
C-CamRon Belcher 29 pass from Summers (bad snap) 9:37, 4th
TEAM TOTALS
First Downs: CCHS 3, MCHS 15
Penalties: CCHS 0-0, MCHS 5-30
Rushing: CCHS 9-(-10), MCHS 31-184
Passing: CCHS 13-20-0, 191; MCHS 16-19-0, 175
Total Yards: CCHS 181, MCHS 359
Fumbles/Lost: CCHS 1-1, MCHS 0-0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
CCHS: Michael Porter 2-4, Gaige Markham 1-4, Braydin Mahnke 4-(-2), Summers 2-(-16). MCHS: Newcom 9-83, Logan Alaimo 9-14, Hayden 1-7, Kayden Wahl 6-23, Ethan Atkison 1-(-1), O’Neal 5-58.
Passing
CCHS: Summers 13-20-0, 191. MCHS: O’Neal 14-17-0, 166; Brady Lynch 2-2-0, 9.
Receiving
CCHS: Howard 4-137, Belcher 3-38, Tyree McLean 2-11, Eli Lovell 2-2, Mahnke 1-0, Markham 1-3. MCHS: Daivon Dunbar 1-14, Falconite 6-78, Brookshire 4-69, Jakari Matchem 1-(-2), Newman 2-3, Alaimo 1-5, Bentley Gregory 1-4.
Defense
CamRon Belcher 4 solos, 2 assists; Landon Curry 3 solos; Blake French solo; Brayden Mahnke 3 solos; Tyree McLean 3 solos, TFL; Michael Porter 3 solos; Kaiden Travis solo, assist, TFL; Braydin Brandsasse 3 solos, TFL; Michael Counts solo; Caden Howard 5 solos, 2 assists; Brayden Poindexter 7 solos, 3 assists, TFL; Jay Stevenson solo, sack; Trae Taylor 3 solos, 2 assists; Noah Byford solo; Gaige Markham 2 solos, 4 assists; Logan Nolan assist; Eli Lovell assist.
Records: CCHS 1-2, MCHS 1-2
