Trigg County spent much of Friday night battling penalties, missed opportunities and a Crittenden County offense that came up with big plays at the right time.
A taunting penalty after Caden Scott’s touchdown with less than a minute left pushed Trigg County’s potential tying extra point back 15 yards. Brody Renfroe’s 35-yard attempt came up short, allowing Crittenden County to escape with a 21-20 win in Marion.
The gut-punch loss was Trigg’s fifth straight and dropped the Wildcats to 1-5 overall and 0-2 in Class 2A District 1.
Trigg was flagged 16 times for 155 yards, with five of those penalties coming on holding calls that continually put the Wildcats behind the sticks. Crittenden County was flagged 11 times for 81 yards as the teams combined for 27 penalties.
Wildcat coach Curtis Higgins said his team simply made too many mistakes.
“We did some really, really good things tonight,” Higgins said. “We fought all the way to the end. What a great drive we had. But you just can’t do that.”
Crittenden County struck first with a seven-play, 60-yard drive. Eli Lovell caught a 25-yard pass to the Trigg 3 before scoring on the next play to give the Rockets a 7-0 lead with 9:21 left in the first quarter.
Trigg answered almost immediately.
Connor Bellows returned the kickoff 52 yards to the Crittenden 8, and Zammarion Broussard scored on the next play to tie the game.
Neither offense found much rhythm the rest of the half as penalties repeatedly stalled drives, but the Wildcats did break through again late in the second quarter.
The Wildcats went 62 yards in six plays, with freshman MarQayvion Green breaking loose for 27 yards on fourth-and-one. Scott then connected with Bellows to the Crittenden 4, and Deon Edison scored from there with 38 seconds left in the half, giving the Wildcats a 14-7 lead.
The Wildcats had two chances to take control in the third quarter but came away empty both times.
Trigg had it first-and-goal at the Crittenden 9 before missing a 25-yard field goal. The Wildcats later reached first-and-goal at the 6-yard line but were stopped at the 1-yard line.
Higgins second-guessed his decision not to try another field goal on the second trip.
“I probably should’ve tried the field goal again,” he said. “We didn’t run the play that I called down there. So it’s just one of those things.”
Crittenden County made the second stop especially costly.
The Rockets took over at their own 1 and appeared to be in trouble before Trigg was called for a 15-yard roughing-the-passer penalty.
Backup quarterback Hayden Hughes broke loose for a 41-yard run into Trigg territory and later scored from 27 yards out with 11:52 remaining to tie the game at 14.
Hughes was starting in place of injured quarterback Conner Poindexter and hurt the Wildcats throughout the night with both his arm and his legs.
After a Trigg punt, Hughes found Noah Byford across the middle for a 58-yard gain. Four plays later, Hughes scored from a yard out to give Crittenden County a 21-14 lead with 6:13 remaining. Twice, Hughes fumbled the snap and twice managed to pick it up and advance it for positive yardage, including the touchdown run.
The Wildcats put together their best sustained drive of the night, moving 67 yards in 14 plays while mixing the run and pass.
Trigg reached first-and-goal at the 5 before a fumble pushed the Wildcats back five yards. Two incomplete passes followed, leaving Trigg facing fourth-and-goal from the 10.
Scott found a hole up the middle and raced into the end zone to pull the Wildcats within 21-20.
Higgins said the play was designed to take advantage of the way Crittenden County was defending Trigg’s jet sweep.
“They were flying up on the jet sweep on us and taking that away, so we have to run things off of that jet sweep,” Higgins said. “Running Caden is one of those things.”
However, the taunting penalty on Trigg kept the game from going to overtime.
“You can’t do those things,” Higgins said. “If that’s exactly what he did, then that’s the right call.”
The penalty pushed the extra point back 15 yards.
Higgins elected to try the kick rather than attempt a two-point conversion from the longer distance.
“I didn’t have a 25-yard play when they know we gotta have it,” he said.
The kick came up about five yards short, and Crittenden County ran out the remaining time.
The Rockets finished with 315 yards of offense, while Trigg had 293. Despite all the penalties and several loose-ball situations, neither team turned the ball over.
Hughes accounted for most of Crittenden County’s offense, rushing 10 times for 106 yards and two touchdowns. He also completed 12 of 20 passes for 173 yards.
Lovell caught six passes for 105 yards. The Rockets had five completions of at least 23 yards, including Byford’s 58-yard catch that helped set up the go-ahead touchdown.
Trigg rushed for 147 yards and passed for 146.
Scott completed 13 of 24 passes for 146 yards and ran 11 times for 43 yards. Green added 53 yards on five carries, while Bellows caught eight passes for 83 yards.
The Wildcats had only four running plays of at least 10 yards, but Higgins felt his offensive line found some success on the final drive.
“I thought they did an outstanding job,” he said. “We did some good things.”
Higgins also saw improvement from a defense that was coming off a 56-14 loss to Caldwell County.
“We did a whole lot of things better tonight,” Higgins said. “We just can’t have that many mistakes.”
Crittenden County improved to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in district play.
The Rockets have now beaten Trigg five straight times, their longest winning streak in the series. The Wildcats still lead the all-time series 29-14-1.
Friday’s home game against Fort Campbell now takes on added importance for Trigg’s playoff hopes. The Wildcats need a win to avoid putting themselves in position to miss the playoffs for a fourth straight season.
Higgins said his players were disappointed because they knew they had played hard enough to give themselves a chance to win.
“They felt like they played hard enough to win, which they did,” Higgins said. “But you still gotta play smart, and you still gotta cut down on some penalties and things.”
Trigg will host Fort Campbell next Friday before traveling to Mayfield on Oct. 16.
Crittenden County is scheduled to play at Todd County Central next Friday. The status of that game is uncertain after Todd County forfeited its game at Mayfield because of low participation numbers.
The Rockets are also scheduled to host Fort Campbell on Oct. 16.
Todd County’s situation also leaves the status of Trigg County’s Oct. 23 game against the Rebels uncertain.
