By Scott Brown

Murray Runs Away From Trigg in Late Night Cat Battle

Posted: August 20, 2023
Article, Featured

Murray High’s new-look offense certainly had a different look in the second half against the Trigg County Wildcats Saturday night, helping the Tigers to a 41-21 win in the second game of the Lakes Area Bowl at Perdue Field.

The Tigers utilized the athleticism of its receivers in the run game to account for 179 rushing yards in the second half.

6-foot-4 Jeremiah Jones ran the Wildcat to begin the second half and picked up 14 quick yards on four carries. 6-foot-6 Zavion Carman added 58 yards on three carries to help keep Trigg’s defense off-balance the entire contest.

Carman scored Murray’s second touchdown of the first half on a 16-yard option pitch from quarterback Collin Wilson to give the Tigers a 13-7 lead they would not relinquish.

Wilson finished with 67 yards in 10 carries with most of his damage coming in the second half. Wilson ran for 122 yards out of the triple option in Murray’s loss last year. New coach Melvin Cunningham has implemented more of a pro-style attack that saw Wilson complete 14-of-21 passes for 212 yards.

Trigg County has a new look on offense this year as well but more from a personnel standpoint. However, injuries kept coach Chris Ezell from seeing it on full display.

Amari Alexander ran for 24 yards on five carries but left the game with an ankle injury. So did Davaree Gude, who started in the backfield and caught two passes.

Jerimyah Shearer ran for 59 yards on 20 carries and threw for 256 yards on 11-of-26 passing.

His 48-yard dime to Peyton Williams opened the scoring with 5:09 left in the opening quarter.

Murray tied the game at 7-7 on the next drive, capped by a 3-yard rollout pass from Wilson to Hudspeth.

Trigg ventured into Murray territory on its next three drives – two in the red zone – only to come up empty.

The Wildcats had first-and-goal at the Murray 3-yard line but failed to punch it in and settled for a 25-yard field that missed wide left.

Trigg had first-and-goal at the Murray 5-yard line on the next drive but fumbled it away.

Murray on the other hand had its own self-inflicted damage to deal with. The Tigers were penalized 12 times for 110 yards in the first half and 145 yards for the game.

Up 13-7 at halftime, Murray scored touchdowns on all four of its second-half possessions, rolling up 421 yards for the night.

Kainoa Olive punched it in from 1-yard out on the first drive of the second half to put the Tigers ahead 20-7.

Trigg scored twice in the second half – one on a 71-yard strike from Shearer to Kahmani Bush and the other when Shearer scored on a 3-yard run with 3:27 left in the game.

The game ended just after midnight and followed a marathon contest in the opener that saw Harrison County outlast Calloway County 40-33 in a shade over three hours. Trigg and Calloway kicked off well after 9:00.

The game was the 60^th in the series between the schools dating back to 1939. Murray leads 40-19-1.

Trigg County dropped to 24-56-3 all-time in season openers.

Murray will play Calloway County next week at Murray State University.

Trigg County will get another taste of late-night bowl shenanigans Friday when they play at Barren County in the second game of its bowl game, with the start scheduled for 8:00.

It will be the first-ever meeting between Trigg County and Barren County, who shut out Metcalfe County Friday 30-0.