The rivalry between Mayfield and McCracken County has been a dandy so far. Coming into this season, the overall rivalry is tied at 2-2, but the way each game has ended has been the story. All four games have come down to the final possession. In 2013, the Cardinals edged out a home victory against McCracken County as the Mustangs attempted a 40-yard field goal in the final seconds of regulation but were unable to get off the snap in time.
The Mustangs and Cardinals were tied at the end of regulation in 2014 at McCracken County’s Marquette Stadium. After scoring a touchdown in overtime, McCracken County gave up a touchdown to Mayfield to make it a 38-37 McCracken County lead. Instead of going for the extra point kick to send it into double overtime, the Cardinals elected to go for the two point conversion and the win. The Mustangs stopped Mayfield on the 1-yard line and defeated Mayfield, 38-37.
It was another overtime classic in 2015 as both teams were tied at 31 at the end of regulation. The Mustangs were able to stop Mayfield on their overtime drive, and then McCracken County scored a touchdown of their own to win at War Memorial, 37-31.
Last season, Mayfield jumped out to a big first half lead over McCracken County, but the Mustangs overcame a 21 point deficit in the second half to make it a six point deficit, 47-41. McCracken was driving late in regulation, but a turnover-on-downs allowed the Cardinals to get a big road win at McCracken County.
Mayfield loaded up their scheduled this season, including three road games against high level competition. The Cardinals started the season with a dominant 41-0 win over Union City. The next week, Mayfield reeled off 41 straight points to take care of Hopkinsville at the Stadium of Champions. And last week, Mayfield jumped out to a 41-6 lead before knocking off arch rival Paducah Tilghman, 47-14. It was the 12th season in a row that Mayfield had defeated Tilghman.
Jayden Stinson led the way for Mayfield last week against Tilghman. Stinson passed for 148 yards on 10-of-14 passing and two touchdowns. Connor Guthrie also did well in the passing game. Guthrie was 6-of-10 passing for 77 yards and a touchdown.
Travon Halliburton led the ground game for the Cardinals against Tilghman. Haliburton carried the ball 18 times for 110 yards.
McCracken County comes into the game facing just their third game in program history with a losing record. The Mustangs secured a strong opening week win against Paducah Tilghman, but a late game heartbreaker to Clarksville and a rough game against Graves County last week has the Mustangs with a 1-2 record.
The Mustangs were shorthanded last Friday night against Graves County, but the good news for McCracken County is that the Mustangs are slowly getting back to full strength.
“We have a lot of guys coming back this week,” said McCracken County head coach Marc Clark on the McCracken County Coaches Show Wednesday night. “We have been battling a little bit of an injury bug, but we will have most of our guys back this week.”
Zander Hamby was a bright spot in the 38-22 loss to Graves County last week. The junior rushed for 80 yards on 9 rush attempts and rushed for two touchdowns. Senior running back TaeShawn Allen rushed for 25 yards on 7 carries and a touchdown.
The Cardinals and the Mustangs tip off at War Memorial at 7pm on Friday.
Paducah Tilghman (1-2) at Graves County (2-1)
The Graves County Eagles are flying high this week after rebounding from a Week 1 loss and beating McCracken County 38-22 last Friday in Mayfield.
The Eagles used a balanced attack to jump out to a 38-6 lead on McCracken County last week before the Mustangs made a late surge to cut the deficit. Overall, Graves County passed for 233 yards while rushing for 204 yards.
Gabe Harned led all rushers for Graves County last week. Harned rushed for 86 yards on 22 carries and a touchdown. Cody Goatley also chimed in with 15 carries for 76 yards and a touchdown for Graves County.
Cody Goatley had a strong passing game for Graves County as well. Goatley was 16-for-30 for 233 passing yards and two touchdowns.
The big news for Graves County this week is the return of junior starting quarterback Ryan Mathis. The Voice of the Eagles, Joe Jackson, announced on Twitter that Mathis would return Friday night.
Paducah Tilghman comes into Friday night coming off one of their largest margins of defeat in their longstanding rivalry with Mayfield, losing 47-14 at Tilghman’s McRight Field.
The ground game has been a strength for Tilghman this season while the passing game has been more of a struggle. In three games, the Blue Tornado have 743 rushing yards, an average of 248 rushing yards a game. On the flip side, Tilghman has passed for just 112 yards on the season, an average of 37 yards passing a game.
Makel Askew, Jordan Harmon, and Michael Barness all carry the rushing load for Tilghman. Askew leads all rushers with 254 yards rushing on 30 carries and a touchdown. Harmon has rushed for 240 yards on 35 carries, and Barnes has rushed for 202 yards on 36 carries and two touchdowns.
Paducah Tilghman and Graves County kick
off at Eagle Field 7pm on Friday night.
Friday Night's Local Games
Trigg County at Ballard Memorial
Marshall County at Calloway County
Hopkinsville at Christian County
Caldwell County at Crittenden County
Stewart County, TN at Fulton County
Fort Campbell at Murray
Fulton City at Webster County
