It’s not quite Halloween just yet, but missed opportunities early came back to haunt Caldwell County Friday night.
Caldwell dominated most of the first half against Murray in a Class 2A 1st District clash in Princeton. But four possessions that started in Murray territory — including one at the 8-yard line — netted just a 6-0 lead for the home team.
Murray made up for that with a quick strike late in the half to go to the break with a 7-6 lead, then went on to win 35-18 on Hall of Fame Night at Tiger Stadium.
It was the seventh straight win for Murray after a season-opening loss to Union City, Tennessee. The black-and-gold Tigers are 2-0 in the district with a home date against Mayfield next week.
Caldwell is now 2-6 overall and 0-2 in district play. But the blue-and-gold Tigers missed a chance to open up a lead against Murray in the first half.
Caldwell had to settle for a pair of field goals from Sutton Ritchey — one from 26 yards and one from 43 yards. The second kick put Caldwell up 6-0 with 9:04 left in the first half.
It looked like Caldwell would get to the break with the lead, but a 50-yard connection from Wyatt Robbins to Isaiah Martin got Murray to the Caldwell 17 with less than a half-minute left before the break.
On the next play, Robbins hit Tristen Dennis for the touchdown pass. That came at the 0:10 mark. Hank Fronza kicked the PAT to put Murray up 7-6 at halftime.
Murray then got another big play early in the first half when Robbins connected with University of Nebraska-commit Jeremiah Jones for a 70-yard scoring play. That gave the visitors a 14-6 lead just 1:32 into the second half.
While Caldwell dominated time of possession and field positin in the first half, Murray used its ground game to get control of the contest in the second half.
Murray had four possessions in the final two stanzas — and scored touchdowns on all four.
A 5-yard run by Robbins helped Murray go up 21-6 at the 1:45 mark of the third period.
Caldwell got within 21-12 when Daelyn Lander hit Gus Fox with a 37-yard touchdown pass. But the PAT was blocked, leaving the difference at nine points with still 11:15 remaining in the contest.
Murray countered with a 5-yard scoring run from Amarion Bomar with 7:36 to go. That made it a 28-12 game.
A 2-yard TD run by Lander kept Caldwell’s hopes alive with 4:50 remaining. However, a two-point pass fell incomplete, leaving Murray with a 28-18 advantage.
Bomar salted away with the Murray win with a 10-yard touchdown run with 1:15 to play.
After a slow start offensively, Murray finished the night with 433 total yards — 237 of that on the ground.
Bomar ran for 140 yards on 11 carries. Jones caught five passes for 107 yards.
Robbins was 12 of 22 passing for 196 yards.
Caldwell had 226 total yards. Lander was 11 of 23 passing for 119 yards. Kam Spikes had 73 yards rushing on 19 attempts.
Caldwell actually had one more first down than Murray in the contest, 17-16.
Caldwell twice recovered onside kicks and twice pulled off successful fake punts, but just couldn’t finish off enough drives to pull off the upset.
The Class 2A 1st District playoff picture is a lot clearer following Friday night’s games.
Murray’s win at Caldwell County and Mayfield’s 42-6 victory at Crittenden County set up a pair of seeding showdowns next week.
Mayfield’s trip to Murray will decide the top two seeds. Barring an upset in the 2nd District next week, the Mayfield-Murray winner will host Todd County Central while the loser will entertain Edmonson County.
Caldwell’s home date against Crittenden next week will be for the three and four seeds. The winner is likely headed to Fort Campbell while the loser will go to No. 1-ranked Owensboro Catholic in the first round of the playoffs.
