Caldwell County put a scare into Graves County for a half.
But the Eagles used a heavy dose of Denis Marrs to pull away after the break for a 46-21 victory Friday night in Mayfield.
Marrs finished the night with 170 yards and three touchdowns rushing as Graves improved to 3-1 on the season.
But Caldwell (1-3) was the Eagles’ equal in the first half, and just missed a chance to head to halftime with the lead.
The Tigers twice scored on fourth down, with Daelyn Lander hitting Gus Fox for a 7-yard scoring pass in the first quarter and Jack Roach getting into the end zone on a 1-yard run in the second quarter to put Caldwell up 14-13.
Roach actually helped set up his own score when he completed a pass as part of a fake punt that went for 52 yards down to the Graves 9-yard line.
Roach took the snap in the upback position in punt formation and threw a short pass over the middle. The ball initially looked like it would be intercepted by the Eagles. However, the ball was bobbled and eventually snatched out of the air by Caldwell’s Luke Parker, who rambled into the red zone.
Down 20-14 just before halftime, a 20-yard toss from Lander to Parker got the ball to the Graves 2-yard line inside the final minute.
A run lost five yards, then a pass was incomplete. On third down, Lander was picked off over the middle as the Eagles avoided falling behind at the break.
Graves then took control of the contest with three third-quarter touchdowns. Two of those came on short runs by Marrs while Kaden Gregory completed a 7-yard TD pass to Bodie Veucasovic.
It was the second TD pass of the game for the Graves quarterback, who also ran for two scores. That includes a 5-yard run early in the fourth quarter that put the Eagles up 46-14.
Caldwell added one more touchdown late in the game on a 3-yard carry by Luke Maddox. That was set up by a 54-yard scamper by Kam Spikes.
Spikes ended up with 90 yards on 14 carries for the Tigers, who totaled over 300 yards of offense in the contest.
Graves finished the night with 344 total yards — 243 of that coming on the ground.
Caldwell totaled 309, with 165 in the air and 144 on the ground.
Parker had six receptions for 102 yards for the Tigers.
The Eagles held a 20-14 advantage in first downs.
Caldwell has now dropped three straight games after a season-opening win over Hopkins County Central.
The Tigers will play at home next week against McCracken County.
