Caldwell County held Fort Campbell to just 96 yards while pitching its first shutout in three years Friday night at Tiger Stadium.
On a night when both offenses battled wet and cold conditions, Caldwell took advantage of five Fort Campbell turnovers while blanking the Falcons 40-0.
The Tigers, now 6-2 overall and 2-1 in district play, will visit Murray next week with the No. 2 seed in the district and a home playoff date likely on the line.
Caldwell totaled just 184 yards against Fort Campbell, but the ball was in the Falcons’ end of the field all night. Only once did the Tigers begin a drive on their own side of midfield. Caldwell’s average starting field position was the Fort Campbell 30-yard line.
Meanwhile, the Falcons started their average possession at their own 18.
The Tigers scored on their first offensive play of the night when DeEric Hollowell scooted 31 yards for a score just 2:30 into the contest.
Tate VanHooser added a 1-yard TD run late in the first quarter to put Caldwell up 14-0 after 12 minutes.
A safety late in the second period extended the margin to 16-0.
Logan Smiley then caught a 15-yard scoring pass from Russ Beshear to help send Caldwell to halftime with a 23-0 advantage.
VanHooser had another 1-yard scoring carry early in the third quarter.
Hollowell picked up his second touchdown of the game on a 2-yard run at the 6:39 mark, pushing Caldwell’s lead to 37-0.
Blake Vivrette booted a 20-yard field goal on the final play of the third quarter to make it 40-0.
Hollowell finished with 71 yards on the ground for the Tigers. Travion Samuel added 41 yards rushing and Smiley had 35. Smiley also grabbed two passes for 21 yards.
Beshear passed for 55 yards and a score.
The Caldwell defense came up with five sacks in the contest. Elijah Shaheen had a sack and three tackles for loss while making nine stops. Samuel recorded eight tackles and three stops behind the line of scrimmage.
Caldwell’s last shutout was a 38-0 victory over Fort Campbell in 2016. That was the Tigers’ third shutout that year, following blankings of Crittenden County (49-0) and Trigg County (43-0).
Fort Campbell got 33 yards rushing from KeDrick Eaddy on Friday. Greysen Meyer caught two passes for 26 yards.
The Falcons are off next week before hosting Ballard Memorial on Oct. 25. That game will be for the No. 4 seed from Class 2A’s 1st District. The loser will miss the playoffs.