Caldwell County’s speed was too much for Owensboro Apollo’s size.
The Tigers took advantage of outstanding field position early, built a 21-0 lead after one quarter, and went on to defeat the Eagles 43-21 Friday night at Tiger Stadium in Princeton.
DeEric Hollowell ran for three touchdowns in the opening quarter for Caldwell, which is now 2-0.
Caldwell took advantage of great field position early, with Blake Vivrette’s kickoffs and good special teams coverage — coupled with Apollo penalties — forcing the visitors deep into their own end.
Apollo (1-1) started its first three drives of the night at its own 7, 15 and 7-yard lines.
Caldwell was quick to capitalize.
Hollowell’s first TD came on an 8-yard run just 2:17 into the contest. Vivrette’s kick made it 7-0.
Hollowell scored on a 2-yard run at the 3:03 mark of the opening stanza as Caldwell went up 14-0.
His third score was a 52-yard spree that saw him cut back inside, pick up some blocks, cut back outside and race to the end zone. That put the Tigers up 21-0 after 12 minutes.
Apollo tried to stay in the game when quarterback Damian Lovinsky went 4 yards for a touchdown at the 10:54 mark of the second quarter. That cut Caldwell’s advantage to 21-7.
But the Eagles couldn’t maintain much momentum as the Tigers countered with the next 22 points to take control of the contest.
Logan Smiley took a short pitch from Russ Beshear 10 yards for a touchdown at the 7:26 mark.
Tate VanHooser hauled in a 24-yard scoring pass from Beshear with 6:01 left in the half to push the Caldwell margin to 35-7.
VanHooser then struck again just before halftime, intercepting an Apollo pass and returning it 78 yards to paydirt. Hollowell ran for two after that score to make it 43-7 — reaching the 36-point mercy rule for a running clock in the second half.
Apollo put up two touchdowns late against Caldwell reserves to make the final score a little more respectable. Wes Daugherty scored on an 8-yard run and Brandon Husk caught a 41-yard TD pass from Lovinsky.
Apollo fared better on the stat sheet than it did the scoreboard. The Eagles had more total yards than Caldwell, 385 to 250. But three turnovers also hurt Apollo.
Meanwhile, the Tigers did not turn the ball over, and ended up with one more first down than the visitors, 14-13.
Beshear was 12 of 14 passing for 145 yards and two touchdowns.
Hollowell finished with 95 yards rushing on just 10 carries with the three early scores.
For Apollo, Lovinsky was 7 of 22 with three interceptions but did total 220 yards in the air.
Harold Hogg ran for 132 yards on 14 carries for the Eagles.
Defensively for Caldwell, Devin Kilgore was the team’s leading tackler with seven. Max Kramer and Ben Holt each had six stops. Drew Davis and Elijah Shaheen each had five tackles and a sack.
Caldwell will go on the road for the first time next week, facing Hopkinsville at the Stadium of Champions. Hoptown is 1-1 after falling to Mayfield 27-22 on Friday.