The 139 Bowl trophy will reside in Caldwell County for a sixth straight year after the Tigers beat Trigg County 51-26 Friday in Princeton. The win assures Caldwell County the top seed in the district for the Class 3A playoffs and home field for the first two rounds.
Caldwell County used the big play all night to keep the Wildcats at bay. The Tigers had eight plays of 20 or more yards and scored touchdowns on three of them.
It was Trigg County that got on the scoreboard first when Cam Jordan hit Jakobe Bridges for a 23-yard touchdown with 5:19 left in the opening quarter. The score was set up by a 65-yard run by Evron Carlson – the longest run from scrimmage by a Trigg running back this year.
Caldwell County answered on the first of two touchdown runs by DeEric Hollowell in the quarter. He scored on runs of three and one to give the Tigers a 13-6 lead with 9:13 left in the first half.
Trigg tied the game with 5:14 left in the half on a 3-yard run by Bridges.
Joby Jaggers, who faced constant pressure from a blitzing Trigg defense, hit Oliver Parker on the first of three scoring strikes with 4:17 left in the second quarter for a 20-13 lead that stood at halftime.
The game changed in a five-minute stretch of the third quarter. Jaggers found Parker again for a 44-yard touchdown pass with 7:54 left. On the ensuing drive, Cam Jordan was picked off by Tate VanHooser who returned it 33 yards for a score and a 34-13 lead.
Trigg came back with a 59-yard Jordan to Bridges scoring strike to make the score 34-20.
Parker’s third touchdown catch came on Caldwell’s next drive, covering 50 yards and putting the Tigers up 41-20 with 3:01 left in the frame.
Blake Vivrette kicked 26-yard field goal for the Tigers and was successful on all six PAT attempts.
With the game in hand and the clock running with less than a minute to go, Caldwell tacked on a touchdown when Jaggers hit Trace Olden on a jet sweep for a 6-yard score.
Jaggers finished 12-of-26 passing for 236 yards. He threw four touchdowns and was picked off once. Parker six passes for 127 yards and three scores. Hollowell was Caldwell’s leading rusher with 97 yards on eight carries but did not play in the second half.
Jordan was 13-of-23 passing for Trigg County for 162 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He also ran for 79 yards on 25 carries but only 10 yards came in the second half.
Bridges had seven catches for 112 yards and 43 rushing yards while scoring three touchdowns and picking off a Caldwell pass on defense.
Caldwell outgained Trigg 441-375 in total yards.
The 51 points scored by Caldwell County is the most in the series since the Tigers beat Trigg County 56-27 in 2002. Caldwell has won six straight games against Trigg County and leads the all-time series 43-22-1.
By virtue of Union County’s 28-6 win over Fort Campbell Friday, the Wildcats clinch a playoff spot for the second straight year.
Trigg County will travel to Hopkins County Central next week – a place they haven’t lost in four career games. Caldwell County will travel to Fort Campbell.
