Mayfield’s War Memorial Stadium has been the end of the road for many a high school football team’s season.
Caldwell County was trying to buck the trend Friday night, but the third-seeded Tigers could not mount an upset bid against the top-seeded Cardinals.
Defending state champion Mayfield continued its quest to return to the state finals in Lexington by turning back Caldwell County 48-21 in a Class 2A second-round matchup.
Mayfield (9-2), which briefly got off to a slow start against Todd County Central in the first round before storming back to win 50-12, had no problem getting out the gate early against Caldwell.
The Cardinals took advantage of two short fields to go up 13-0 just 5:49 into the contest.
Caldwell (5-7) tried to stay in the thick of things when Daelyn Lander hit Luke Parker deep for a 60-yard scoring connection with 5:29 left in the opening stanza. That pulled the Tigers within 13-7.
But Mayfield scored on a short touchdown pass early in the second quarter — one of four Cardinal TDs in the frame as the home team blew open the game 41-7 at halftime.
Mayfield forced a running clock with another score early in the third quarter.
Caldwell tacked on a pair of touchdowns late to narrow the final gap to 27 points.
Mayfield totaled 456 yards in the contest with 309 of that on the ground.
Josiah England had 117 yards rushing, including a 3-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.
Reggie Dowell added 98 yards with scoring runs of 1 and 12 yards.
Gray Robbins passed for 147 yards and three touchdowns while also finding the end zone on a 9-yard late in the first half.
Mak Hoover caught four passes for 49 yards with a 21-yard TD reception in the corner of the end zone on Mayfield’s first possession of the night.
Jalal Islam made two grabs for 42 with a 13-yard touchdown catch.
Caden Morris caught a 4-yard TD pass for the Cardinals.
For Caldwell, Lander threw for 225 yards and two touchdowns, but the Tigers struggled to mount a consistent rushing attack.
Caldwell finished with 32 yards rushing and 257 total yards, but was held to minus-29 yards rushing in the first half.
Kameron Spikes ran for 37 yards for the Tigers.
Kam Wilson scored on a 3-yard run in the third quarter.
Parker had four receptions for 130 yards and two scores. He caught the 60-yard TD pass in the first quarter and turned in a 59-yard scoring catch in the third period.
Gus Fox had five catches for 58 yards.
Caldwell had lost at Mayfield during the regular season 47-14. The Tigers have dropped their last 12 games against the Cardinals.
Meanwhile, Mayfield has an eight-game winning streak this season. The Cardinals will host Lexington Christian in the third round of the playoffs next week.
