Caldwell County’s Baron Wells and DeEric Hollowell each scored three touchdowns as the Tigers rolled to a Class 2A 1st District victory, 57-16, Friday night in LaCenter.
Caldwell (5-1 overall, 1-0 district) scored touchdowns on eight of its 10 possessions in the contest.
Only an interception and the end of the game ended series without a score.
But it was Caldwell’s defense that came up with the first score of the night, forcing a safety following a bad snap on a punt attempt just 1:59 into the contest. That put the Tigers up 2-0.
Hollowell scored on a 4-yard run and Wells returned a punt 50 yards to paydirt to help extend Caldwell’s early lead to 16-0.
But Ballard (0-5, 0-1) struck back with a big play of its own. Trenton Howard found an opening up the middle and returned a kickoff 95 yards for a score. Quarterback Parker Rathman ran for two, cutting Caldwell’s lead in half at 16-8.
An interception by the Bombers on the next possession made things interesting. But the Caldwell defense eventually forced Ballard to turn the ball over on downs.
A 29-yard touchdown run by Hollowell extended Caldwell’s lead to 23-8 after one period.
The Tigers then put up three more TDs in the second quarter.
Wells caught a 34-yard scoring pass from Russ Beshear. Beshear hit Tate VanHooser with a 4-yard scoring pass, then threw 10 yards to Hollowell for another TD late in the first half.
That helped Caldwell take a 43-8 lead to halftime.
Wells then pushed the Tigers’ over the 36-point mercy-rule plateau on the very first play of the second half. Wells took the kickoff at his own 29-yard line, found an opening on the left sideline, and raced 71 yards to the end zone. That made it 50-8.
Travion Samuel scored on a 2-yard run early in the fourth quarter. Blake Vivrette, who was seven of eight on PATs in the contest, kicked the extra point to make it 57-8.
Both teams worked reserves into the contest the rest of the way. Ballard hit one more big play when Rathman took a keeper around the left end and raced 52 yards for a touchdown. Howard ran for two, but Caldwell still led 57-16.
Rathman’s run pushed the Bombers’ yardage total in the game to 96 — all on the ground.
Beshear finished the night 8 of 11 passing for 115 yards with one interception and three touchdowns.
Beshear was also Caldwell’s leading rusher with 45 yards on three carries. Hollowell also toted the ball just three times, rushing for 39 yards, but had one touchdown run called back by a penalty.
VanHooser had three receptions for 24 yards and a score while Wells made two grabs for 67 yards and a TD. Hollowell had two catches for 22 yards and a touchdown.
Caldwell totaled 274 yards in the contest but mostly took advantage of fantastic field position. With the two kick returns for touchdowns and several short punts by the Bombers, the Tigers’ average starting field position in the contest was the Ballard 32-yard line.
Ben Holt led the Caldwell defense with 11 tackles, including nine first hits and four tackles for loss. Elijah Shaheen made eight stops. Max Kramer blocked a Ballard punt.
Caldwell returns to the friendly confines of Tiger Stadium in Princeton next week to host Mayfield.
The Cardinals are also 5-1 overall and 1-0 in district play after beating Fort Campbell 42-0 on Friday.