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| The Rocket defense played well, but the offense sputtered against the Tigers. |
Crittenden County (1-2) hadn’t held the Tigers (2-2) to single digit-scoring since the Rockets beat their neighboring-county rivals 8-7 in 2002 at Princeton.
Meanwhile, the Tigers shut out the Rockets for the second straight season and did it with their own version of a steel curtain.
Caldwell’s defense stymied the CCHS ground game, which has now rushed for minus-6 yards in the past two games.
The Rockets gained a meager seven yards on the turf against Caldwell and had just two first downs until a small spark of late offense in the fourth period. Crittenden was unable to move the chains at all until it opened up the passing game, trying to catch up late. But even then, the offense sputtered deep in Caldwell County territory, turning the ball over on downs and being intercepted once – all three times within the Tiger 35-yard line.
After giving up more than 300 yards rushing the previous week in a loss to 4A Madisonville, first-year head coach Gaige Courtney was encouraged with what he saw against the Tigers.
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| The CCHS defense draws in against Caldwell running back Logan Smiley. |
The Tigers scored on a short field, from the 21, to take a 6-0 lead early in the second period. Tiger kicker Blake Vivrette, who rarely misses an extra-point, was wide right on the PAT, but he made up for it with a third-quarter field goal for the game’s final points.
Caldwell rushed for 181 yards on the back of senior Logan Smiley. He carried the ball 30 times for 189, but a large chunk of those came on one play – a 68-yard run in the third period to set up Vivrette’s three-pointer.
The Rockets threw the Tigers for a loss on 11 plays and recovered one fumble, so the defense was more than adequate.
Crittenden was a bit turnover prone on offense as senior quarterback Luke Crider was intercepted twice and the Rockets lost two fumbles.
Courtney saw spurts of productive offensive play, particularly late, but he lamented the team's to be more balanced on that side of the ball.
“We’re missing our running game that we had last year,” he said. “Our executive has to get better, but we will figure it out.”
The road will not get any easier for the Rockets as they travel to the other side of Owensboro next week to play Class 2A’s No. 7 and undefeated Hancock County.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Crittenden County 0 0 0 0
SCORING PLAYS
Cald-Jamus Carneyhan 5 pass from Jack Stevens (kick failed) 11:53, 2nd
Cald-Blake Vivrette 26 field goal, :13, 3rd
TEAM TOTALS
First Downs: Rockets 5, Tigers 10
Penalties: Rockets 3-13, Tigers 4-45
Rushing: Rockets 15-11, Tigers 47-181
Passing: Rockets 19-37-2, 163 yds., Tigers 9-16-0, 38 yds.
Total Yards: Rockets 174, Tigers 219
Fumbles/Lost: Rockets 3-2, Tigers 4-1
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Crittenden: Gattin Travis 3-4, Levi Piper 2-1, Preston Morgeson 5-6, Luke Crider 6-0. Caldwell: Logan Smiley 30-189, Carneyhan 1-2, Logan Chambliss 2-(-1), Jack Stevens 14-(-9).
Passing
Crittenden: Crider 19-37-2, 163 yds. Caldwell: Stevens 9-16-0, 38 yds.
Receiving
Crittenden: Morgeson 9-64, Brysen Baker 3-36, Kaleb Nesbitt 4-27, Trace Derrington 2-32, Hayden Adamson 1-4.
Records: Crittenden 1-2, Caldwell 2-2
