The first six meetings of the rivalry have been split right down the middle. Paducah Tilghman won in 2013, 2015, and last season, while the Mustangs were victorious over Tilghman in 2014, 2016, and 2017.
The 2019 matchup features two teams with returning quarterbacks. Paducah Tilghman’s Cam Marshall and McCracken County’s Elijah Wheat are both poised for strong campaigns. Wheat passed for 1,822 yards and 18 touchdowns on 126 pass completions last season. He has many of his top targets to work with again this season, including starting tailback junior Hunter Bradley and senior wide receiver Franklin Hayes. Hayes led every statistical category at receiver last season with 623 receiving yards and six touchdowns on 32 pass receptions. Hayes also rushed for 128 yards and six touchdowns last season.
Bradley led the Mustangs in every rushing category last season, including 744 rushing yards on 143 attempts and ten rushing touchdowns. Bradley averaged just under 70 rushing yards per game last season. Bradley also had 13 pass receptions for 113 receiving yards. Backing up Bradley in the running game will be seniors Franklin Hayes and Elijah Holland, as well as junior Carter Roland.
Tilghman’s Cam Marshall will also have familiar faces with him on the offensive side of the football. Senior running back Damien Ford will be the primary rusher this season for the Blue Tornado. In his junior season, Ford rushed for 698 yards and 7 touchdowns. Senior Jayden Freeman will also receive a share of carries this season while also splitting time as a wide receiver. Last season, Freeman rushed for 310 yards and five touchdowns, while also receiving 193 yards and two touchdowns.
Paducah Tilghman and McCracken County kick off Saturday at 7pm at McCracken County’s Marquette Stadium.
Graves County at Murray
It has been a tale of two different offseasons for Graves County and Murray. For Graves County, it has been an offseason of transition. And then more transition.
Losing one head coach can be difficult for any program, but losing two coaches in the same offseason really hurts. Graves County head coach Lance Gregory at the end of the 2018 season to transition into a new position at Graves County Middle School. The Eagles then hired Morgan Cruce as their next head coach, but Coach Cruce stepped down 12 weeks before the start of the season for personal reasons. In stepped Graves County’s defensive coordinator from 2018, Nick Kemp, to be the new head coach in 2019.
The Eagles do return quite a bit of their offense from 2018, but they’ll be missing quarterback Ryan Mathis who graduated last season. Mathis passed for 2,319 yards and 23 touchdowns last season. However, the Graves County running game returns sophomore Clint McKee and senior Cody Goatley, the two leading rushers from 2018. Goatley rushed for 502 yards and nine rushing touchdowns as the starting running back for the Eagles. McKee rushed for 395 yards and two touchdowns in 2018.
Coach Keith Hodge and the Murray Tigers look to build on a memorable 2018 season that included a trip to the KHSAA Regional Championship Game, and the Tigers feel like they have the pieces to make 2019 just as memorable.
The Tigers bring one of the most exciting players to watch in 2019 in senior quarterback Hunter Utley. Utley passed for 2,454 yards last season with 26 touchdowns on 176 pass completions, averaging just under 200 yards passing and two touchdown passes per game. And the good news for Utley – his top two receivers from 2018 return as well with seniors Jaiden Jackson and Jorden Duffy. Jackson led all Tiger receivers in 2018 with 672 receiving yards and 9 touchdowns while Duffy was not too far behind with 648 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns for the Tigers.
The good news for both squads is both teams return a plethora of starters on the defensive side of the football. Graves County returns seven starters defensively while Murray returns nine starters in 2019.
The Eagles and Tigers kick off Friday
night at 7pm in Murray.
Friday Night's Games
Christian County at Caldwell County
Todd County Central at Calloway County
Crittenden County at Fort Campbell
Greenfield, TN at Fulton City
Gleason, TN at Fulton County
Ballard Memorial at Marshall County
Lausanne Collegiate, TN at Mayfield
Trigg County at Muhlenberg County
Graves County at Murray
Madisonville at Union County
Hopkins County Central at Webster County
Saturday's Games
Paducah Tilghman at McCracken County
