Crittenden County piled up 280 yards on the ground — and 430 total yards — in turning back Russellville 42-13 in the Class A 1st District championship game Friday night in Marion.
Crittenden (7-2) advances to the third round of the playoffs. However, the Rockets won’t know their next foe until after Saturday’s action.
Crittenden, which won 47-6 earlier this season at Russellville, never trailed in the rematch, but could never fully shake the Panthers until the fourth quarter.
Preston Morgeson caught three touchdown passes in the first half as the Rockets got to the break with a 21-7 lead.
Crittenden hit Russellville with a halfback pass on the game’s first play from scrimmage. Caden McCalister found Morgeson uncovered down the field, and Morgeson raced 54 yards to the end zone. Noah Perkins kicked the extra point to make it 7-0 just 12 seconds into the contest.
Russellville (5-4) answered on its first series though, with Jaquis Todd taking a Lennon Ries pass 62 yards to paydirt on a 3rd-and-13 play. Dustin Brown’s kick tied things at 7-7 with still 10:23 left on the first quarter.
The game appeared to settle into a defensive tilt, with neither side scoring for the next 14 minutes.
But Crittenden hit paydirt on 3rd-and-long from its own 45. Luke Crider found Morgeson streaking down the middle, and Morgeson turned it into a 55-yard touchdown play. That came with 8:20 left in the half.
Morgeson then turned a screen pass into a 24-yard scoring play at the 6:24 mark, to help Crittenden get to halftime up 21-7.
Russellville kept the pressure on when it struck early in the third quarter. A 23-yard pass from Ries to Jackson Hampton made it a one-possession game, but a missed PAT left the Panthers trailing 21-13.
But Russellville could never find the end zone again, and Crittenden used its rushing attack to grind out the playoff victory.
A 54-yard touchdown run by Tyler Boone helped Crittenden take a 28-13 lead to the final frame.
Boone struck again on a 28-yard touchdown run following a Russellville turnover. That made it 35-13 with 10:27 to play.
McCalister scored on a 1-yard run following a Russellville fumble deep in its own end. That extended the margin to 42-13 with 6:18 to go and had the Rockets well on their way to the third round of the playoffs.
McCalister ran for 111 yards for Crittenden while Boone had 90 yards on just five carries.
Morgeson made four catches for 136 yards and the three touchdowns.
Russellville had 294 yards with Ries passing for 244 of that with both Panther touchdowns.
See complete stats from The Crittenden Press at http://crittendencountyrockets.blogspot.com/
