With the calendar turning to October, Caldwell County tried to put a scare into Mayfield’s unbeaten season Friday night.
The Tigers trailed only 15-9 at halftime — and just missed a touchdown catch on the final play of the first half that may have sent Caldwell to the locker room with a lead.
But Mayfield (7-0, 2-0 district) regained control of the contest in the third quarter, and went on to defeat the Tigers 35-16 in Class 2A 1st District action at Tiger Stadium in Princeton.
The Cardinals rolled up 444 yards of offense in the contest while keeping Caldwell from putting together drives and controlling time of possession. The Tigers were limited to just 80 total yards — and minus-34 yards of rushing.
Mayfield made quick work of the opening drive of the night. Kylan Galbreath scored on a 10-yard run just 2:46 into the contest to put the Cardinals up 6-0.
Mayfield made it 8-0 late in the first quarter when they backed up the Tigers then tackled quarterback Jack Stevens in the end zone for a safety. That came at the 1:19 mark.
Caldwell (4-3, 1-1) made it an 8-3 game early in the second quarter when Blake Vivrette drilled a 36-yard field goal at the 9:09 mark.
Mayfield countered with an 11-yard scoring pass from Zane Cartwright to Isaac Stevenson with 6:00 left in the first half. Lincoln Suiter’s extra-point gave the Cardinals a 15-3 advantage.
However, Caldwell finished the half strong.
A long kickoff return by Isaiah Joyner set the Tigers up at the Mayfield 35. On the next play, Stevens found Max Kramer open down the right sideline for a score. Vivrette’s PAT cut Mayfield’s lead to 15-9 with 5:44 remaining in the second period.
Caldwell then caught a break when Mayfield fumbled the ball away — one of four Cardinal turnovers in the contest.
The Tigers appeared to pull within 15-12 on another Vivrette field goal from 24 yards out. However, a roughing-the-kicker penalty took those points off the scoreboard and gave Caldwell a first down.
Caldwell got to the Mayfield 3 but faced fourth down with just 4 seconds to go. The Tigers elected to go for it, then just missed cashing in when a pass bounced off a Caldwell receiver in the end zone and was picked off by Mayfield to end the half.
Mayfield owned most of the third quarter — putting up two scores to go up 28-9. Daniel Coles caught an 18-yard scoring toss from Cartwright at the 9:55 mark while Gabe Spalding scored on a 1-yard run with 1:09 left in the stanza.
Stevenson caught his second TD pass of the night from Cartwright on a 9-yard connection with 9:06 to play. That made it 35-9.
Caldwell scored on a 4-yard pass from Stevens to Jamus Carneyhan with 3:56 left to make the final 35-16.
Galbreath finished with 210 yards rushing for Mayfield.
Stevens had 144 yards and two touchdowns passing for Caldwell.
Defensively, Carneyhan had 12 tackles and a fumble recovery for the Tigers. Stevens recorded 10 stops.
Caldwell will play its final scheduled home game next week when it hosts district foe Fort Campbell. That will be both Homecoming and Senior Night for CCHS.
