Caldwell County head coach Aaron McClung sees a lot of similaries in his Tigers and the Hancock County program they will face this week in the first round of the Class 2A football playoffs near Hawesville.
“They’re kind of like the Caldwell County of the 2nd District,” he noted. “You know, they’re a rural county school. They’ve got a little bit of size. They’ve got a few athletes. They have a pretty solid football tradition. They’re the 2nd District’s version of us.”
The teams meet Friday night at 7 p.m.
McClung says its another typical Hornet team — not flashy but overall pretty solid.
“I really feel like we’re really close, talent wise. And, you know, their record, they have one game on us. They are 7-3 and we’re 6-4.
“(Hancock head) coach (Robert) Eubanks is a really good guy. I’ve talked to him a few times. I would guess that he is probably not happy that it’s us that they’re playing (in the first round).
“We’ve scrimmaged them for about four, five, six years in a row. And we didn’t scrimmage this year because we thought (meeting in the playoffs) might be a possibility. But I know he has a lot of respect for us. And I have a lot of respect for them.”
McClung said both teams probably wish they had an easier first-round opponent.
“I mean, we’re going to go there and try to win a game. And we can win the game. The guys have just got to maintain the good attitude that they’ve had all this week.”
Caldwell is 6-0 all-time against Hancock. All six of those games came in the playoffs — and all six came at Tiger Stadium. The last meeting came in 2014.
However, the Tigers did travel to Hancock last year for a preseason scrimmage, so Caldwell is familiar with the trip.
The Hornets are ranked 12th in the Class 2A RPI while the Tigers are 17th.
Hancock is led by junior quarterback Brady Eubanks. He has completed 50 percent of his passes for 856 yards and 11 touchdowns with only four interceptions.
Eubanks is also a big part of the Hornet running game. He is second on the team with 720 yards rushing and eight TDs.
However, last week, Hancock started freshman Tripp Hager at quarterback in a 29-7 win at Bethlehem while Eubanks moved to the fullback spot.
Hager threw for 117 yards and three touchdowns while Eubanks ran for 151.
Kaleb Helms is the team’s leading rusher with 779 yards and six scores.
Cooper Jones is the top receiver with 22 grabs for 394 yards and five touchdowns.
Jones also has three interceptions on the defensive side of the football.
Ross Powers is Hancock’s leading tackler with 107 stops. Trevan Coiles has 87 tackles with 15 tackles for loss.
Meanwhile, Caldwell hopes to have more of its team available this week after playing the regular-season finale at Murray without six starters.
However, junior Kam Wilson is out after being injured at Crittenden County two weeks ago. Wilson is done for the season with an ACL tear.
That puts more of the weight offensively on junior quarterback Daelyn Lander.
Lander has completed 79 of 173 passes for 1,240 yards this season with 14 TDs and nine interceptions. He is also second on the team in rushing, behind Wilson, with 394 yards and two scores.
Junior Colson Mattocks has 356 yards rushing and six touchdowns.
Wilson was also Caldwell’s top receiver. Junior Derek Wilson is next with 19 receptions for 280 yards and three TDs. Junior Drew Stevens has 17 catches for 180 yards and two touchdowns.
Defensively, senior Jack Roach leads the Tigers with 82 tackles.
Caldwell has forced 25 turnovers this season and is plus-nine in the takeaway department.
Hancock enters the postseason on a three-game winning streak while Caldwell will look to rebound after back-to-back losses to end the regular season.
Both teams are capable of putting points on the scoreboard, with each side averaging 33.6 in 10 games so far. The Tigers are giving up 27.7 points while the Hornets allow just 17.7 points a contest.
Friday’s winner earns a trip to top-seeded Mayfield in the second round.
