Caldwell County’s quest for its first victory of 2023 was short-circuited Friday night at Crittenden County by untimely penalties and the passing of Rocket senior quarterback Micah Newcom.
Crittenden nailed down a home playoff game behind the play of Newcom, who completed 25 of 32 pass attempts for 256 yards and three touchdowns.
That helped the Rockets (5-4 overall, 2-1 district) roll up 382 yards of total offense while securing the No. 2 seed for the playoffs and a home date against Todd County Central when the Class 2A postseason begins in two weeks.
Caldwell, meanwhile, was limited to just 92 total yards in the contest.
The Tigers, now 0-9 and 0-3, will be the No. 4 seed for the playoffs and will make the trip to No. 1-seeded Owensboro Catholic in two weeks.
Caldwell was penalized 12 times for 131 yards while Crittenden was flagged 15 times for 133. However, many of the Tiger penalties seemed to wipe out a big play or keep the team from gaining any momentum.
Crittenden got on the scoreboard at the 4:02 mark of the first quarter on a 19-yard pass from Newcom to Tyler Belt. A two-point try was thwarted by the Caldwell defense, leaving it 6-0.
The game appeared headed to halftime with that score. But Camron Belcher came up with a key interception on a Caldwell pass deep down the middle late in the first half.
Crittenden cashed that in on an 18-yard pass from Newcom to Caden Howard with just 24 seconds left before the break. Again, Caldwell stopped the two-point try, but the Rockets got to halftime with a 12-0 advantage.
The Tigers were in the game until the fourth quarter, but could never come up with a big play that might have narrowed the gap and turned the tide.
Instead, it was Crittenden that opened up a 20-0 lead when Jacob Carder scored on a 2-yard run with 9:06 remaining in the game. Newcom threw to Bennett McDaniel for the two-point conversion.
Caldwell broke up the shutout with 5:58 to play. A 20-yard scramble by quarterback Luke Parker on 3rd-and-15 got the Tigers to the Crittenden 19-yard line. Three plays later, Parker hit Kam Wilson with a 7-yard scoring pass. Sutton Ritchey kicked the extra point to cut the margin to 20-7.
However, an onside kick attempt was recovered by the Rockets, who then put together a drive to finish off the victory.
Newcom’s third TD toss of the tilt came with just 1:17 remaining — on a 13-yard pass to Howard — to help make the final score 27-7.
Howard caught 11 passes for 90 yards and the two touchdowns.
Gattin Travis led the Crittenden ground game with 62 yards and five carries. Carder ran eight times for 60 yards.
For Caldwell, Luke Maddox carried the ball eight times for 29 yards while Gus Fox had 23 yards on seven attempts.
Parker was 5-for-11 passing for 27 yards and the TD in relief of starter Jack Roach, who was slowed by an injury late in the first half.
After dropping 12 in a row to Caldwell from 2010-21, Crittenden has now won two straight in the series. It’s the first time the Rockets have won back-to-back games against the Tigers since taking four consecutive games from 2001-04.
Caldwell holds a 44-12 advantage all-time.
The Tigers will finish the regular season next week by hosting Trigg County for the annual 139 Bowl.
Crittenden goes to Calloway County next week.
