A short-handed Caldwell County squad was no match for undefeated Murray.
Wyatt Robbins threw for 300 yards and four touchdowns as Murray routed Caldwell 56-16 in both teams’ regular-season finales Friday night at Ty Holland Stadium in Murray.
Murray (10-0), which is anticipating a deep run in the Class 3A playoffs, ran out to a 28-0 lead after one quarter on the way to a 42-0 cushion at halftime.
The margin grew to 56-0 in the fourth quarter before Caldwell had some late highlights to try to build some momentum for the 2A playoffs starting next week.
First, a 50-yard pass from Daelyn Lander to Derek Wilson broke up the shutout with 3:59 to play. Sutton Ritchey kicked the extra point.
A deep kickoff by Ritchey then pinned Murray at its own 7-yard line. Caldwell cashed that in for points when Everett Ray tackled the quarterback in the end zone for a safety to make it 56-9.
Caldwell (6-4) got great field position following a 45-yard return by Shane Fairrow on the ensuing free kick that also came with an added 15 yards on a late hit out of bounds.
Murray put its starters back in the game to try to keep Caldwell out of the end zone again, but Lander found an opening and battled his way to a 19-yard scoring run with just 30 seconds to play. That helped Caldwell score 16 points in the last 4 minutes.
Caldwell recovered an onside kick on the final play of the game.
Murray was never threatened in a game that saw Caldwell play without six starters — including leading rusher and scorer Kam Wilson. Wilson will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL.
But Caldwell hopes its strong finish carries over to next week’s playoff trip to Hancock County (7-3).
Meanwhile, Murray’s Robbins hooked up with Isaiah Martin for three first-half touchdown tosses — on plays of 45, 55 and 76 yards.
Martin finished the night with four catches for 182 yards.
Amarion Bomar also had a big game for Murray, rushing for 101 yards and two touchdowns while making three receptions for 22 yards and another score.
Simon Rickman and Kenyon Cunningham also had touchdown runs for Murray.
Hank Fronza was 8-for-8 on PATs for the home team.
Murray will host Adair County when the playoffs start next week.
Robbins completed 13 of 15 pass attempts as Murray finished the night with 491 total yards and 19 first downs.
Caldwell ran for 159 yards and had 256 total yards with 14 first downs.
Lander had 91 yards on the ground and another 97 in the air on 6 of 21 passing with one interception.
Murray has taken three straight from Caldwell and now leads all-time 23-17-1.
