Falcons fly high 42-14 for first district win of season
By David Snow
The Eagle Post
FORT CAMPBELL — The Webster County Trojans had good field position in their game at Fort Campbell Friday night — slightly better than the host Falcons — but could not take advantage, as the Falcons won their Homecoming contest against Webster County 42-14.
With the loss, the Trojans (1-7 overall, 0-2 in Class 3A District 1) will have the district’s No. 4 seed and will travel to District 2 leader South Warren on Nov. 7 for the first round of the state playoffs.
Fort Campbell (2-6, 1-1) scored the first 42 points of the game, staking a 35-0 lead at halftime. Webster County kept up the effort, scoring two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
The Falcons scored on their first possession of the game, starting with good field position at the Webster County 44-yard line and using Christian Berry runs of 13 and 21 yards to set up a nine-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Jaylen Williams to senior wide receiver Zach Lee with 9:47 left in the first quarter. Senior Jacob Ellison’s extra-point kick gave Fort Campbell an early 7-0 lead.
Webster County twice turned the ball over on downs. The first time, Fort Campbell was forced to punt the ball away, but the second time, the Falcons started with earnest at its own 30. A 19-yard run by Williams, 11-yard and 16-yard runs by Palema Roberts along with a 21-yard pass from Williams to Ellison set up a nine-yard touchdown run by senior Christian Berry with 2:05 left in the first quarter. Ellison’s kick put the Falcons ahead 14-0.
Webster County was forced to punt the ball back to the Falcons at the FCHS 30, and on the first play from scrimmage, Berry found a seam and took it the rest of the way on a 70-yard touchdown run with 8.6 seconds left in the first period. Ellison’s kick put the Falcons ahead 21-0.
Webster County then began a lengthy drive from its own 30. Senior running back Chance Cook and junior quarterback Dillon Baty punched the ball down the field until the Falcons stopped the Trojans at the FCHS 20 on fourth down.
A 34-yard pass from Williams to Lee started the next scoring drive for Fort Campbell, and an eight-yard run by Berry set up a 38-yard TD pass from Williams to Lee with 5:58 left in the second quarter. Ellison’s kick made the score 28-0.
As the first half wound down, Fort Campbell began a drive from is own 46-yard line. A 26-yard pass from Williams to Ellison and a 12-yard run by Berry helped set up an 11-yard TD run by Williams with 56 seconds left in the half. Ellison’s kick made the halftime score 35-0.
On the second play from scrimmage in the second half, Berry burst through the line again, taking the ball 47 yards for another touchdown with 11:41 left in the third quarter. Ellison’s kick put Fort Campbell ahead 42-0.
Webster County mounted impressive drives, finally scoring on a 10-play drive in the fourth quarter when James Logsdon ran 22 yards for a Trojan touchdown with 6:03 left in the game. The two-point conversion pass failed, but Webster County was on the scoreboard 42-6.
Fort Campbell punted the ball away on its next possession, and Webster County again took advantage. A 22-yard run by Logsdon set up a 36-yard TD pass from Grant Carter to Wade McCulloch with 1:09 left in the game. The conversion run by Logsden closed out the scoring at 42-14.
Cook led the Trojans’ running attack with 92 yards on 19 carries, while McCulloch led the team with 36 receiving yards, with Warren bringing in 22. Cook also had a game-high 93 return yards with kickoff returns of 48, 22 and 23 yards.
“We’re just trying to get better each week,” said WCHS head coach Mike Whitaker. “We’ve got a long way to go. We’re not very strong physically, and we don’t have a lot of experience. We’ve got two kids that have played football for four years.
“We’re struggling when it comes to play teams with some speed or are physical at all because of our strength. We’re going to get better. We’re going to get stronger in the weight room. We’re better than we were when we started. We’ve just got to continue to improve.”
Paducah Tilghman (4-5, 2-0) won 45-0 at Trigg County (4-4, 1-1) Friday night, clinching the top seed for the Blue Tornado in District 1. Fort Campbell and Trigg County will battle for the No. 2 seed in Cadiz this Friday.
Webster County host the district’s top seed, Paducah Tilghman, at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The Trojans will close out its regular-season schedule at McLean County on Oct. 31.
Next season, Webster County moves to Class 2A District 1 in a district that will also feature Ballard Memorial, Mayfield and Murray.