Caldwell County weathered both the rain and a late Murray comeback bid to post a 20-14 victory on the road Friday night.
Caldwell kept Murray’s ground game relatively in check for much of the night, even forcing four fumbles which proved critical in the field position game.
Offensively, Caldwell came up with just enough plays to build a 20-0 lead in the fourth quarter on Homecoming night at Ty Holland Stadium in Murray.
Because of the turnovers, Caldwell’s averaging starting field position in the contest was midfield.
Meanwhile, Murray was forced to start at its own 21. Murray was unable to generate any scoring drives with its ground attack, but did strike for a pair of big plays late to make things interesting.
Caldwell, now 6-3 overall and 3-1 in the district, was outgained 346 yards to 184 in the contest.
However, Caldwell typically worked with much shorter fields so there weren’t as many yards to be had — and 149 of Murray’s yards came on their two long touchdown passes late in the contest.
The teams battled though a scoreless first period before a Murray fumble set Caldwell up at the Murray 23 in the second quarter.
Caldwell cashed in on a 6-yard touchdown run by Jamus Carneyhan with 7:58 left in the second quarter. Blake Vivrette kicked the point after to make it 7-0.
Another Murray fumble on a muffed punt gave Caldwell the ball at the Murray 26 late in the first half. Caldwell gained a little breathing room at the break behind a 40-yard field goal by Vivrette.
That came at the 2:47 mark and sent Caldwell to halftime with a 10-0 advantage.
Caldwell then got a big play out of its running game to start the second half and firmly seize the upper hand. On Caldwell’s first play from scrimmage, Jack Stevens fought his way through a scrum near the line, bounced the ball outside, then raced down the right sideline for a 65-yard scoring play. That made it 17-0 at the 11:38 mark of the third period.
Caldwell tacked on three more points with 7:02 left in the game on a 21-yard field goal by Vivrette.
That extended the margin to 20-0 and the blue-and-gold Tigers seemed to have things well in hand.
But Murray (5-2, 2-1) battled until the end.
Rowdy Sokolowski found Caleb Cauley across the middle, and Cauley turned it into a 73-yard touchdown pass with 5:09 to play. Ben Davis kicked the PAT to cut the gap to 20-7.
Murray hit another big pass play late. This time Sokolowski found Xavier Biggers on the left sideline, which turned in a 76-yard scoring connection. That came with just 11 seconds to play, but had Murray within 20-14.
However, Caldwell’s Logan Smiley scooped up an onside kick attempt by Murray, and Caldwell was able to run out the clock on the district victory.
Stevens ran for 76 yards and Smiley 75 for Caldwell.
Rowdy Sokolowski rushed for 81 for Murray while Gage Sokolowski had 60.
Defensively, Caldwell got 17 tackles from Elijah Shaheen and 16 from Carneyhan.
The Tigers are scheduled to be off next week before finishing the regular season at Trigg County on Oct. 29.
