The Cardinals come into Friday night with the offense clicking. Mayfield has scored in the forties in all five contests against bigger schools; the Cardinals scored 41 against Union City, 49 against Hopkinsville, 47 against Paducah Tilghman, 49 against McCracken County, and 45 against Graves County last week.
Along with the high scoring offense, the margin of defeat has been large for the Cardinals as well. Graves County was able to hang around until midway through the fourth quarter last week, and with a score late, Mayfield went on to win by two touchdowns. In the other contests, Mayfield has won by a margin of 41 points against Union City, 29 points against Hopkinsville, 33 points against Paducah Tilghman, and 18 points against McCracken County.
As is the case in seasons past, the key to the Cardinals offense has been there vast amount of key players. Already nine different Cardinals have scored double-digit amount of points for Mayfield this season, including junior Kent Trey Matthews who leads the way scoring 48 points this season on four rushing touchdowns and four receiving touchdowns. Matthews leads all receivers with 272 receiving yards and the four receiving touchdowns, while also rushing for 332 yards this season on 38 carries and the four rushing touchdowns.
Another significant piece to the Cardinals offense this season has been senior Kyle Hurt. In five games, Hurt has rushed for 263 yards on 32 carries and six touchdowns. Last week against Graves County, Hurt found the end zone three times while rushing for 145 yards on 17 carries for the Cardinals.
Mayfield has also successfully employed a dual-quarterback system through the first half of the season. Sophomore Jayden Stinson has been more of the pocket passer for Mayfield this season, passing for 545 yards on 32-of-61 passing and seven touchdowns. Junior Connor Guthrie has been more of a mobile threat this season. Guthrie has passed for 328 yards on 17-of-28 passing and three touchdowns but has also rushed for 193 yards on 33 carries with two rushing touchdowns.
Corbin comes into Friday night’s contest trying to get over the first loss of the season in a 36-29 loss to Beechwood last Friday night. The Redhounds bring a balanced attack offensively with 675 passing yards on the season as well as 545 rushing yards on the season.
Senior Quarterback Cameron Sizemore has passed for 663 yards on the season with five touchdowns for Corbin. However, he has four different receivers with at least 100 yards receiving this season. Junior Cameron Maguet has 167 yards receiving and three receiving touchdowns, junior Christian Gosselin has 143 yards receiving and a touchdown, junior Chase Estep has 113 yards receiving and a touchdown, and senior Caleb Mitchell has 106 yards receiving and a touchdown.
The Cardinals and the Redhounds square off at Austin Peay State University Friday night at 7pm.
Daviess County (2-3) at McCracken County (1-4)
One of the more marquee district matchups across the state happens at Marquette Stadium Friday night as the Daviess County Panthers visit the McCracken County Mustangs.
As a program, the Mustangs come into Friday night’s contest completely unblemished against Class 6A District 1. McCracken County has won all 15 contests against the district and won the district crown all four seasons the Mustangs have been in the district.
The playing field evened up in the district this season with both Daviess County and Henderson County returning a large chunk of their 2016 teams while McCracken County graduated 26 players from their 2016 squad.
The biggest individual talent in the region arguably plays for Daviess County. Junior wide receiver Marquel Tinsley leads the entire district in receiving yards this season with 635 receiving yards in just five games played. That’s a whopping 127 yards receiving a game so far this season. On top of those numbers, Tinsley also has 9 receiving touchdowns in only five games played this season; just over four receiving touchdowns a game. Tinsley is also averaging just under 28 yards per reception.
With the numbers Marquel Tinsley is putting up, it’s easy to fathom that Daviess County junior quarterback Joseph Cambron has some outstanding numbers so far this season. In five games, Cambron has passed for 1,638 yards on 80-of-148 passing and 23 touchdown passes. That’s an average of 4.6 touchdown passes per game.
The good news for McCracken County is that the passing strength of Daviess County matches up with a strength of McCracken County; the Mustangs’ defensive secondary. Last week against Glenbard North (Illinois), the Mustangs came up with five interceptions (seven takeaways overall by the defense) by their defensive secondary, including two by junior Kiael Waldon.
Sophomore Elijah Wheat has taken over most of the snaps for McCracken County at quarterback. On the season, Wheat has passed for 474 yards on 64-of-118 passing and five touchdowns. Junior Max Howard has played in each game as well and has passed for 254 yards on 27-of-51 passing and two touchdowns.
The Mustangs will also get junior running back Zander Hamby back this week after missing last week’s contest against Glenbard North with a groin injury. Hamby has rushed for 112 yards this season on 26 carries and two touchdowns. Senior running back TaeShawn Allen leads all rushers with 331 yards rushing on 72 carries and two touchdowns.
The Panthers and the Mustangs kick off at 7pm Friday night at McCracken County’s Marquette Stadium.
Friday Night's Games
Mayfield vs. Corbin (@ APSU)
Graves County at Apollo
Paducah Tilghman at Caldwell County
Madisonville at Calloway County
Marshall County at Christian County
Clarksville Academy, TN at Fulton City
Fulton County at Greenfield, TN
Daviess County at McCracken County
Murray at Russellville
Fort Campbell at Trigg County
Crittenden County at Union County
Harrisburg at Massac County
Saturday's Games
Lincoln County vs. Ballard Memorial
