November 9, 2007
at War Memorial Stadium, Mayfield, Ky.
Crittenden almost knocked off favorite Mayfield in the Class A First Region playoffs Friday.
Rocket defender Gaige Courtney (28) knocked down Mayfield quarterback Logan Armstrong
(2) just after he threw an incomplete pass.
Rockets at Mayfield
MAYFIELD – Crittenden County came within a whistle of a possible upset in the first round of the Class A playoffs at Mayfield.
The fourth-ranked Cardinals eked out a 24-21 victory over the unheralded Rockets and had it not been for an inadvertent whistle on a Mayfield fumble, Crittenden may have well made even more noise.
"Sometimes in life you have a chance to make history," Rocket coach Al Starnes told his team following a game where his boys finished within four points from beating a school they've failed to defeat in each of nine previous tries.
"We were close," the coach continued. "But also in life, you can't control what other people do. You can only control what you do."
His postgame speech was directed squarely at the side judge who called a play dead by mistake two downs before the end of the third period. The unintentional whistle gave Mayfield new life, a first down and set up the Cardinals' eventual winning touchdown.
"Don't leave this field with your heads down," Starnes urged his team that finished the season 4-7 after losing the first five.
"Don't leave here blaming an official for what happened," he continued. "I am more proud of this team than any other in the last 17 years because of what you have accomplished after a rough start."
Crittenden had battled the mighty Mayfield Cardinals toe-to-toe for three quarters and had even led 14-10 on Jeramie Sorina's 29-yard touchdown eight minutes into the second half. Yet Mayfield answered immediately with its only pass completion of the game, a 63-yard scoring strike and another three-point edge.
After an unsuccessful series by the Rockets, Mayfield got the ball back and had driven into Crittenden territory when running back Tyrese Murrell fumbled and the Rockets' Aaron Berry recovered. However, the play was nullified after a lengthy conference by the head referee and other officials. One of them had prematurely blown the play dead. There was nothing they could do except award Mayfield the ball at the end of the run, which gave the Cardinals a first down deep in Rocket territory. Three plays later, the Cardinals scored again and took a 24-14 lead with just over 10 minutes to play.
"We didn't play really well, but we didn't play bad either," Mayfield coach Joe Morris said. "Crittenden kept the ball away from us the second half."
It was a sustained drive in the fourth period that allowed the Rockets to pull within a field goal. Crittenden scored with 2:47 to play on a Gaige Courtney eight-yard reception from quarterback J.D. Gray. It was Gray's second TD pass of the game. However, the long drive chewed up eight precious minutes and left the Rockets without enough time to get the ball back and work on that history-making upset.
In the end, it was the closest Crittenden had ever been to beating the Cardinals. In their previous nine matchups – seven times in the playoffs – Mayfield had won by an average of 26 points. The closeness was not something to celebrate at the time, but coach Starnes was certainly thinking about the near miss and what's returning next year as he bid farewell to the five seniors. The Rockets will return nearly every starter next season and that's something consider as they begin preparing for 2008.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Crittenden Co...7...0...7....7
Mayfield ..........7...3...7...7
SCORING PLAYS
C-Adam Hardin 17 pass from J.D. Gray (Jordan Martin kick) 6:28, 1st
M-Tyrese Murrell 20 run (Tommy McNutt kick), 1:00, 1st
M-McNutt 35 FG, 5:46, 2nd
C-Jeramie Sorina 29 run (Martin kick), 3:59, 3rd
M-Xavier Shelton 63 pass from Logan Armstong (McNutt kick) 3:15, 3rd
M-Brent Simpkins 4 run (McNutt kick) 10:26, 4th
C-Gaige Courtney 8 pass from Gray (Martin kick) 2:47, 4th