B-B Boys help Rockets slay Cougars

MARION, Ky. – Two Rockets who have been steady contributors all season paired up for perhaps the biggest play of the year – certainly the most significant on Friday night – as kicker Mitchell Brown and Noah Byford painted McLean County out of the playoff picture with one fell swoop.

It was a third-quarter blow that allowed Crittenden County to score twice in 17 seconds and build a two-touchdown lead that held up for a 28-20 victory, launching the Rockets into next week’s regional semifinal at Owensboro Catholic.

Rocket kicker Mitchell Brown and holder
Quinn Summers on a PAT.

McLean County’s old-school pound-on-the-ground offense was punching all the right buttons early in front of a huge Class 2A playoff crowd at Rocket Stadium. Controlling the ball and the clock with long possessions on two scoring drives gave McLean an early 14-0 lead. The typically dynamic Rocket offense was left stranded on the sideline while the Cougars churned away behind their single-wing and wing-T formations. The game of keep-away was working like a charm as CCHS was able to run only five offensive plays in the entire first period.

Rocket quarterback Quinn Summers and all-time receiving leader Caden Howard broke the hometown silence with a 55-yard touchdown strike. Shortly thereafter, Crittenden began solving the Cougars’ ground attack and held on a key fourth down at its own 8-yard line with 2:07 to go in the half. Summers guided CCHS all the way downfield and capped a 92-yard drive with a 10-yard passing play to running back Trae Taylor – his first of two TDs in the game.

Joel Bumpus (8) celebrates a touchdown
with Trae Taylor (1).

Crittenden flipped the script in the second half as its defense continued to set the tone, stopping McLean twice in the red zone. Meanwhile, Summers found junior receiver Davis Perryman on an 8-yard scoring pass early in the third quarter that set up the key play from the BBs – Brown and Byford – on the ensuing kickoff.

A pooch kick down the home sideline off Brown’s foot was perfectly placed, and Byford raced to the spot where the ball ricocheted off a McLean player. The Rocket junior scooped it up inches before it rolled out of bounds. The play set up Crittenden’s final touchdown – Summers’ 37-yard pass to Taylor – and effectively put the game out of reach of McLean’s methodical running game. Cougar quarterback Aden Bolden passed only four times, completing one and throwing one interception – picked off by Howard.

“We had to kick it to a spot where the field was kind of weak. It was a desperate play, it was a really close game,” said Byford, whose recovery provided enough spark to fuel another comeback win – the team’s third in four weeks.

Coach Courtney and Noah Byford (9) celebrate
after Byford's 3Q fumbled kickoff recovery.

Although the Rockets punted on their final three possessions, they’d built ample cushion with four straight scoring drives over the second and third quarters. Crittenden’s defense handled the rest, holding the Cougars to just 74 rushing yards in the second half after they’d piled up 186 before intermission.

“It’s been a great home stretch,” Coach Gaige Courtney said as his team has won six of its last seven games, and half of those victories have come on their home turf. “McLean is a tough, gritty team, and we expected it to be tough. The defense really stepped it up after halftime, and Mitchell Brown’s pooch kick that Noah Byford recovered to give us an extra possession was huge – a great play by both of them.”

The Rockets’ reward will be a play date at O’Cath, the state’s top-ranked Class 2A team, next week. The Aces beat Ft. Campbell 61-7 in this week’s opening-round matchup.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

McLean County 8 6 0 6

Crittenden County 0 14 14 0

SCORING PLAYS

M-Hunter Stratton 4 run (Stratton run) 1:14, 1st

M-Charles Walker 2 run (run failed) 4:16, 2nd

C-Caden Howard 55 pass from Quinn Summers (Mitchell Brown kick) 8:18, 2nd

C-Trae Taylor 10 pass from Summers (Brown kick) :36, 2nd

C-Davis Perryman 8 pass from Summers (Brown kick) 9:53, 3rd

C-Taylor 37 pass from Summers (Brown kick) 9:36, 2nd

M-Walker 11 run (run failed) 3:37, 4th

TEAM TOTALS

First Downs: CCHS 14, MCHS 14

Penalties: CCHS 3-30, MCHS 5-40

Rushing: CCHS 13-62, MCHS 56-260

Passing: CCHS 20-32-1, 267; MCHS 1-4-1, 24

Total Yards: CCHS 329, MCHS 284

Fumbles/Lost: CCHS 1-1, MCHS 2-1

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

CCHS: Summers 9-59, Taylor 4-3. MCHS: Walker 25-132, Raylen Tate 12-79, Stratton 10-31, Aden Bolden 6-18.

Passing

CCHS: Summers 20-32-1, 267. MCHS: Bolden 1-4-1, 24.

Receiving

CCHS: Howard 7-113, Taylor 5-69, Eli Lovell 6-69, Perryman 2-16.

Defense

Check back later

Records: CCHS 8-3, MCHS 5-6