Rocket QB Sean Thompson tries to elude Mayfield's Tristian Barnes.

The result was an ugly 41-12 loss as Crittenden became the latest whipping boy in No. 1 and unbeaten Mayfield's march toward what it figures could be a state title and a history-breaking 15 straight wins. For a program steeped in grand history, Mayfield appears a solid favorite to do something no other Cardinal team has done - go undefeated through 10 regular season games and the expanded five-game playoff system. Mayfield was unbeaten in 13 games in 1978 and won a state title, but that was under the old, shorter version of the playoffs.

For Crittenden, it was a bitter end to a surprising post-season run. The Rockets, who were not even picked to win their district, finished the season at 10-3, won the district and competed in the regional championship game for just the fourth time in school history. Meanwhile, Mayfield's trophy case just gets bigger. The Cardinals have now won the regional title 24 out of the last 27 years. This First Region championship came much like many of Mayfield's earlier titles, in a lopsided affair against an obviously lesser opponent.

Crittenden came out of the chute in good condition. The Rockets moved the ball a bit on their first two possessions, picking up a couple first downs before punting on the first offensive series. Mayfield fumbled on its first possession and Crittenden's Chris Lapp recovered to give the Rockets a big boost in the early minutes of the game. But on Crittenden's first play after the fumble recovery in Mayfield territory, the Rockets too coughed up the ball. From there, the Cardinals didn't blink.

Mayfield capitalized on three Crittenden fumbles and an interception as they scored seven points in the first period and 27 in the second quarter to take full control of the contest.

Mayfield's feature back, Derrick Parrott, rushed for a game-high 123 yards and runningmate Mitchell Dumas added 95. Mayfield's balanced rushing attack opened the airways for quarterback Greg Cook to stretch Crittenden's secondary for 120 yards and two touchdown passes. Cardinal kicker Adam Ivey gave his team two field goals, of 41 and 37 yards, in the final two minutes before halftime.

After its initial flurry of offensive life, Crittenden didn't make much noise until the very end when Mayfield's reserve defense yielded two Rocket touchdowns, one on a 10-yard run by senior Ryan Bradham and another on a 58-yard TD pass from Sean Thompson to Cody Hunt. Otherwise, Crittenden spent most of the contest on defense with their backs bent against the Cardinals' lethal combination of power football and precision passing.

Cook, the Mayfield quarterback, completed half of his 12 passes, but did throw an interception - his first in 13 games. Crittenden's Tyler K. Guess picked off the Cook pass in the end zone late in the third period for one bright footnote to an otherwise miserable finish to a successful season.

Rocket coach Al Starnes paid tribute to Mayfield, a team that has knocked the Rockets out of the playoffs five times five times in the last seven years.

"Defensively, they have the fastest team I've ever seen," said Starnes, whose Rockets garnered just six first downs the entire game. "If I could sum Mayfield up in one word, it would be 'Wow.'"

Yet, the Crittenden skipper, who has guided the program to 84 wins and 54 losses during the last 12 seasons, remains proud of this year's club and its accomplishments.

"We had a great year. I can't say enough about this senior class. It went down in history as the only group to win back-to-back district titles and that's something that no one can take away from them."


Rocket running back Ryan Bradham rushes out of the Cardinal clutches.

SCORE BY QUARTERS
Mayfield.....7...27...7...0
Crittenden...0....0...0...12

SCORING PLAYS
M-Jerome Saxton 31 pass from Greg Cook (Adam Ivey kick) 3:57, 1st
M-Mitchell Dumas 1 run (kick failed) 6:20, 2nd
M-Derrick Parrott 4 run (Channing Dismukes pass from Cook) 5:21, 2nd
M-Saxton 19 pass from Cook (Ivey kick) 3:05, 2nd
M-Ivey 41 field goal, 2:03, 2nd
M-Ivey 37 field goal, :00, 2nd
M-Parrott 15 run (Ivey kick) 6:53, 3rd
C-Ryan Bradham 10 run (kick failed) 6:44, 4th
C-Cody Hunt 58 pass from Sean Thompson (kick blocked) :19, 4th