Rocket QB Sean Thompson rushes in the second half.
Rocket QB Sean Thompson rushes in the second half.
There was very little of the traditional Xs and Os at the intermission, just the coach digging deep into the soul of his boys' psyche. In so many words, Starnes appealed for some true grit and challenged the intestinal fortitude of his team. Like a preacher on the last night of revival, Starnes asked for action.
"We challenged them at halftime to play with heart and to simply want the game more than Heath," Starnes said.
"This is Crittenden County football! I'm not going to quit... you're not going to quit, so lets go out there and kick their butts," he demanded, jamming his open hand down on a lineman's shoulder pads.
Responding like remote-controlled precision bombs, the Rockets blasted into the second half and accomplished the mission, beating the Pirates 20-13 in a non-district road game.
Crittenden County outplayed Heath in the first half, but two surprising touchdowns in the last 45 seconds of the second quarter lifted Pirate spirits and gave the home team momentum going into the break with a seven-point lead.
Heath took a narrow edge on a 51-yard fake punt run by Brandon Austin, who is also the Pirate quarterback. His scoring run was easier than anticipated as Crittenden had just called a timeout to set the defense for what the coaching staff expected would be a fake. However, Austin broke loose because the Rockets had only 10 men on the field for the play. An extra-point kick gave them a one-point lead.
On the ensuing series, the Rockets fumbled at their own 11 on the first play, giving Heath the ball and an opportunity for fullback Brock Wright to score on its first snap.
Starnes' words of inspiration at the break lit a fire in the Rocket boosters as Crittenden fully dominated the second half, pushing the ball downfield in trademark fashion and cutting the feet out from under the Pirate offense. Austin, Heath's offensive catalyst had run from 110 yards in the first half, but Crittenden bottled him up in the final two periods, piling on the Pirate sophomore and pinning him with minus-8 yards the last half.
Meanwhile, Rocket quarterback Sean Thompson directed his offense to two more touchdowns, the last one a final 84-yard drive that wiped 10 minutes off the fourth-quarter clock. Thompson rushed for two TDs the last half after throwing a scoring pass to Tyler D. Guess in the second period. Thompson and fullback Jared Asbridge boosted the Rocket running game, carrying most of the load in the second half. Asbridge finished with a season-high 104 yards and Thompson added 60, including four crucial carries on third or fourth down.
The Rocket defense piles on a Heath ballcarrier.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Crittenden Co.. 0...6...8...6
Heath Pirates ..0...13...0...0
SCORING PLAYS
C-Tyler K. Guess 14 pass from Sean Thompson (kick failed), 8:39,
2nd
H-Brandon Austin 51 fake punt run (Levi Mansfield kick), :45,
2nd
H-Brock Wright 11 run (kick failed) :17, 2nd
C-Thompson 1 run (Zack Beverly pass from Thompson) 8:59, 3rd
C-Thompson 2 run (kick failed) 1:44, 4th
