At Laker Stadium ...
Rockets fall 32-0 at Calloway
6 turnovers swamp Crittenden

MURRAY, Ky. Sept. 15 -- The Rocket football players are learning to take their medicine like men, but it doesn't make the bitter pill any easier to swallow.

For the second straight week, Crittenden County was waylaid in a Friday night football game. This time it was at Calloway County, as the Rockets lost 32-0 on the road. Six turnovers, including five lost fumbles, were a major factor in the outcome.

Crittenden's non-district schedule has seldom proven so rugged in the last 20 years. After four games versus teams from Class 3A and 2A, the Boys in Blue are reeling from a 1-3 start, their worst in 13 years.

The last time Crittenden opened a season this poorly was in 1993. Back then, the Rockets made up some ground once Class A league play began and made the playoffs to finish 5-6.

Ailing from this woeful start, 16th-year coach Al Starnes is finding little comfort in the fact that there are six games left on the regular season schedule from which his team might gain some sense of accomplishment. He acknowledged that a few players showed some tenacity at Class 3A Calloway, but the coach wasn't pleased by any means with the overall performance. Right now, the diagnosis isn't good because most of the problems are internal and not simply because of a tough schedule.

Missed assignments, bad decisions and the inability to take care of the football are among the complications encountered by Starnes' young Rockets this week. His sophomore running backs and special teams players made four of the five turnovers. Another fumble was lost by a senior going into the end zone on the one-yard line. That was as close as Crittenden got to the end zone the entire game.

Although this is just the fourth straight season for the Rockets to open up with five consecutive games against larger schools, the opponents have not provided insurmountable odds. Only one of the teams which have beaten the Rockets so far this year has a winning record.

Calloway (2-3) has some fair credentials if you consider the fact that the three teams to which the Lakers have lost were undefeated going into Friday night. The Rockets proved early at Calloway, however, that they could match the Lakers toe-to-toe.

Calloway went into halftime with a 6-0 lead courtesy of a 69-yard touchdown by senior Trey Travis. That score was set up by a Crittenden interception. Otherwise, the Rockets had out-performed the Lakers in nearly every statistical category in the first half.

When the second half began, things quickly unraveled for the Rockets. Chase Crisman returned the opening kickoff of the third period 85 yards for a touchdown to give Calloway a 13-0 lead. From there, Crittenden piled up four fumbles and Calloway scored on four of its next five possessions, all courtesy of the turnovers.

There were some bright spots, and for the most part the Rockets played with more fortitude than they had the previous week in a 54-7 loss at home against Union County. Hard play might be encouraging for most young programs, but for Crittenden, accustom to winning eight or nine ballgames a year for the past decade, it's not what the doctor – or its coach – has ordered.

SCORE BY QUARTERS
Crittenden County....0...0...0...0
Calloway County.....0...7..12..13

SCORING PLAYS
Call-Trey Travis 69 run (Seth Asher kick) 4:18, 2nd
Call-Chase Crisma 85 kickoff return (kick failed) 11:47, 3rd
Call-Logan Seay 15 run (pass failed) 3:25, 3rd
Call-Tyrone Willis 99 run (kick failed) 11:40, 4th
Call-Travis 4 run (Asher kick) 8:13, 4th