It was the kind of game that causes defensive coordinators to have sleepless nights. The Murray Tigers had just a bit more offensive firepower Saturday night and outscored the Christian County Colonels 54-36 at the Stadium of Champions.
Give the Colonels plenty of credit in this one. Every time it looked like Murray was ready to pull away, the Colonels rose up and said ‘Not quite so fast’ and kept fighting their way back into the game. The Colonels’ offense had some big moments. If they could have just got one or two defensive stops coming down the stretch in the second half, the Tigers might have made the journey back across the lakes as a sad bunch of kitties.
In fact, the Colonels were right there with a chance to make the Tigers sweat it out after the Tigers, leading 47-36, fumbled the ball away at the Christian County 25-yard line giving the Colonels the ball with still 3:51 to go in the game. But Christian County would go four-and-out and turn the ball over on downs with 3:05 left in the game.
Murray finally dropped the hammer for good with a 32-yard touchdown pass from Wyatt Robbins to Jeremiah Jones with 2:28 left in the game to reach the final score of 54-36.
The story of the night was Murray’s high-powered offense. The Tigers had 478 total yards of offense for the game. Wyatt Robbins was almost unstoppable for the Tigers, passing for 364 and coming up with some timely runs.
Murray also had 114 yards rushing in the contest.
The Tigers opened the game as if they might make short work of the Colonels. Wyatt Robbins and Jeremiah Jones hooked up for their first touchdown of the night on a 5-yard pass with 9:16 to go in the first to make it 7-0. Robbins then took off on a 9-yard touchdown run to move the lead out to 14-0 with 4:27 to go in the quarter.
It was at this point that the Colonels indicated how resilient they are becoming. Christian County took the ensuing kickoff and went on a 70-yard scoring drive that finished with a one-yard run from quarterback Jaiden Williams to cut the lead to 14-8 early in the second quarter.
The Tigers came back down the field, covering 64 yards in 8 plays, capping off the drive with a two-yard score from Amarion Bomar with 8:59 to go in the half to push the lead back out to 21-8.
Christian County looked to be in water above their heads after an interception led to Murray scoring on the first play after the pick. This time it was Wyatt Robbins to Isaiah Martin for a 25-yard score and the Colonels found themselves down 27-8. But back they came.
Christian County took over at its own 45 and drove down the field. Jaiden Williams took it in from four yards out and the lead was down to 27-16 with 1:44 left in the half. The problem was, that the Colonels could not find a way to slow down the Murray offense.
Robbins and Jones hooked up for their second touchdown of the night with 7 seconds to go in the half and Murray took a 34-16 lead into the break.
Led by Jaiden Williams, the Colonels again fought their way back into the game on the opening possession of the second half. A 59-yard drive was finished off by a 30-yard touchdown pass from Williams to Aiden Jesse and the Murray lead was down to 34-22 with 9:13 to go in the third.
But again, the Colonels could not quite get the stop they needed. The Tigers ripped off a 13-play drive that ended with Wyatt Robbins running it in from 3 yards out and the lead was back out to 40-22.
The Colonels again fought back. Starting their next drive at the Murray 36-yard line, the Colonels struck paydirt when Tristin Dillard scored from ten yards out to make it 40-30 with still 2:35 left in the third.
Murray answered again, this time with a 55-yard drive that was capped off with a 4-yard touchdown pass from Robbins to Isaiah Martin and the lead was back out to 47-30 early in the fourth quarter.
To evidence their growth, the Christian County Colonels just refused to let Murray get away easy. A ten-play, 61-yard drive ended with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Jaiden Williams to Josh Bridges and the lead was back down to 47-36 with 7:17 to go. But the Colonels would not be able to convert the late-game fumble and Murray would seal the win with a late score.
Tristan Dillard led the Colonels rushing attack with 79 yards. Jaiden Williams added 69 yards on the ground. Williams was also 8-15-2 through the air for 105 yards.
Christian County falls to 0-4 with the loss. The Colonels are back at Stadium of Champions Friday night when they host Caldwell County.
