Will Barnes couldn’t have asked for much more in his first game as head coach at Caldwell County.
The former Tiger standout — and son of late Caldwell head coach David Barnes — saw his defense shut out a ranked Crittenden County 22-0 Friday night.
Russ Beshear passed for 218 yards and a touchdown while Baron Wells returned an interception for a score as the Tigers won in front of 700 fans at Tiger Stadium in Princeton.
The defenses ruled the first half. Caldwell got two field goals from Blake Vivrette and a safety to build an 8-0 lead at halftime.
The Tigers then seized momentum on the first play from scrimmage in the second half.
Wells picked off a Crittenden pass and returned it 46 yards for a touchdown, quickly extending the margin to 15-0 — a seemingly commanding lead in a defensive-minded contest.
Caldwell salted the game away with a 30-yard touchdown pass from Beshear to Tripp Branch down the right sideline with 6:50 left in the game.
The Tigers outgained the Rockets 279 yards to 176. Crittenden was hurt by three turnovers while the Tigers did not have a giveaway.
Wells caught eight passes for 75 yards for Caldwell while Branch made four catches for 68 yards and Tate VanHooser had four grabs for 43 yards.
Travion Samuel led the Tiger ground game with 58 yards on 22 carries.
Xander Tabor ran for 116 yards for Crittenden, but the Rockets had trouble sustaining drives against Caldwell’s defense.
Jack Stevens led the Tiger tackle sheet with 10 stops. Elijah Shaheen had nine stops and a sack while Max Kramer recorded eight tackles.
Blake Vivrette connected on a pair of field goals in the first quarter for the Tigers.
Vivrette’s 31-yarder started the scoring at the 6:35 mark of the first period.
Caldwell caught a break when a bad snap on a Crittenden punt went out the back of the end zone. That made it 5-0 with 5:30 left in the opening stanza.
Vivrette’s 30-yard boot made it 8-0, still in the first quarter.
The win was Caldwell’s 11th straight against its border rival to the north. The Tigers lead the all-time series 43-10.
It was Caldwell’s first shutout of the Rockets since a 49-0 victory in 2016.
The Tigers go on the road for the first time next week when they travel to Union County.
