High School Football Season Kicks Off This Weekend

The start of the high school football season is upon us once again, and once again the highlight of the weekend is the 6th annual “Rumble on the River” between McCracken County and Paducah Tilghman.

The McCracken County Mustangs come into the rivalry matchup having won two in a row over their crosstown rivals and three of the first give games of the series. The way the Mustangs have won them, however, have varied wildly.

Two years ago, mother nature’s heavy rains pushed the annual rivalry to a from a Saturday night to a Sunday afternoon contest at Paducah Tilghman. The Mustangs scored early and often, jumping out to a 42-0 halftime lead over the Blue Tornado. The Mustangs would play their junior varsity squad the entire 2nd half and coast on to a 42-6 win.

Rewind to last season, Paducah Tilghman was the team to jump out early, as the Blue Tornado scored on their 3rd play from scrimmage to jump out to the 6-0 lead. Fast forward to the 2nd half, Paducah Tilghman led 13-0 when the Mustangs mounted a large comeback, scoring 13 consecutive points of their own and forcing overtime.

In overtime, the Mustangs scored first to give McCracken County a 20-13 lead. Paducah Tilghman would respond with a touchdown of their own, but a botched extra point opportunity would end the game and give the Mustangs the dramatic 20-19 win over Tilghman.
The rivalry has featured a new head coach in the previous five meetings. This year, it looked like both schools had returning coaches, but Paducah Tilghman coach Steve Duncan suffered a mild stroke in late July and resigned the following week as a result of it. Paducah Tilghman hired offensive coordinator Jonathan Smith as their interim head coach, becoming Tilghman’s fifth head coach in six seasons.

McCracken County head coach Marc Clark had the ultimate respect for Paducah Tilghman in an interview on his weekly coaches show on 99.5FM The Fan Wednesday night. “First off, our thoughts and prayers continue to be with Coach Steve Duncan and the Tilghman family as he recovers,” said Clark. “But Coach Smith is a really good coach and he has a lot of players returning that will make them a very talented team this season.”

Paducah Tilghman’s offense last season was very run heavy; rushing for 3,300 yards while only passing for 487 yards all season. This season’s edition for the Tornado looks to have the same philosophy. Tilghman’s top returning offensive player is senior running back Kel Askew. Askew rushed for 925 yards and 10 touchdowns last season on 120 rushing attempts for the Tornado last season.

McCracken County comes into the matchup with a lot more of an understanding of their team identity than a season ago, even after graduating 26 seniors last season. “It’s a lot different coming into the Tilghman game this season than last season,” Clark said on his weekly coaches show Wednesday night. “Our players now know what to expect from our staff and we’ve had a great summer getting ready for this season.”

McCracken County coach Marc Clark enters his 2nd season with the Mustangs, and he enters the 2018 season knowing who his quarterback will be; junior Elijah Wheat. Wheat won the quarterback job halfway through the 2017 season and ended up passing for 1,772 yards and 18 touchdowns in his sophomore season.

The top rusher for McCracken County in 2017 was senior TaeShawn Allen. Allen rushed for 1,280 yards and 16 touchdowns in his senior campaign and provided 62% of the Mustangs rushing game. The Mustangs will turn to junior Franklin Hayes to carry a majority of the ground game in 2018. Hayes, known for his quickness and breakaway speed, rushed for 238 yards on 53 carries and five touchdowns in 2017, while also landing 387 receiving yards and a touchdown in his sophomore season.

The 6th annual Rumble on the River kicks off Saturday at 7pm at Paducah Tilghman’s McRight Field. If you can’t make it to the game, you can listen live on 99.5FM The Fan with Eric Chumbler, Jared Adams, Clint Conway, and Jimmie Garrett.

Murray at Graves County – The 2017 season for the Graves County Eagles wasn’t bad at all, grabbing six wins against a difficult schedule before bowing out in the first round to a highly talented South Warren team, 38-12. But the Eagles were oh-so-close to being 9-2 instead of 6-5.

Graves County gave arch-rival Mayfield quite the challenge in mid-September last season. Trailing 38-31 late, the Eagles were driving when a turnover went against the Eagles and solidified the win for the Cardinals. Fast forward to a week later when Graves County dropped a heartbreaker to Apollo, 38-35. Then two weeks later, the Eagles dropped a highly controversial contest in overtime to Christian County, 21-14, before ending in a postgame melee between the two schools.

The highlight for Graves County in 2018 is senior quarterback Ryan Mathis, who passed for just under 1700 yards in 2017 with 17 touchdowns. However, the Eagles will be looking to replace Mathis’ top receiver, Trevor Grant, who caught 1,272 yards of Mathis’ 1,700 passing yards.

The Eagles are also looking to replace running back Gabe Harned. Senior Chase Whitis looks to receive a majority of the rushing load this season. Whitis rushed for 490 yards and five touchdowns in 2017.

Caldwell County at Christian County – One of the more entertaining matchups of the opening week the last five seasons has been the matchup between Caldwell County and Christian County.

To prove my point on entertainment value, Caldwell County gave up 57 points to Christian County four years ago and won…by three touchdowns. That’s right. Caldwell County knocked off Christian County 78-57 in 2014. Since then, the Colonels have won three straight over the Tigers.

The Tigers return quite a bit from their 2017 squad, including senior quarterback Joby Jaggers. Jaggers tossed 2,422 yards and 28 touchdowns in his junior season. Jaggers’ top dual threat receiver and tailback also returns in Jameer Riley, who rushed for 716 yards while bringing in 417 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns in 2017.

Friday Night's Games
Hopkinsville vs. South Warren
Trigg County vs. Monroe County
Caldwell County vs. Christian County
Stewart County, TN at Crittenden County
Fulton County at Gleason, TN
Murray at Graves County
Fulton City at Greenfield, TN
Fort Campbell at Marshall County
Union City, TN at Mayfield
Ballard Memorial at South Fulton, TN
Hopkins County Central at Webster County

Saturday Night
McCracken County at Paducah Tilghman