Final...

 

Solid, solid win for the Cardinals over there cross-town rival Eagles to go 5-0 on the year. Graves falls to 3-1 on the season.

thanks for the updates MHSCardinal, big win for the Redbirds! I honestly did not think we would come through the first five games undefeated...but we did! I love me some Cardinal football.

Final stats:

 

1st Downs ... Mayfield 16 ... Graves Co 13

Rushing ... Mayfield 32 x 149 yds ... Graves Co 30 x 99 yds

Passing ... Mayfield 290 yds ... Graves Co 181 yds

Total ... Mayfield 439 yds ... Graves Co 280 yds

Turnovers ... Mayfield - 1 ... Graves Co - 0

thanks for the updates MHSCardinal, big win for the Redbirds! I honestly did not think we would come through the first five games undefeated...but we did! I love me some Cardinal football.

 

Me either... That's 5 toughies in a row... Kinda figured we'd have a lapse or 2 in there somewhere, but, the Big Red keeps rolling along.. Hopefully, they can use these next 3 weeks to get everyone 100% healthy and be ready to go for Russellville and Caldwell to end the regular season and on into the playoffs.

Once again we send notice to the rest of 1A and we sent it loud and clear

Wow!, I have to admit I thought Mayfield would have to play their very best to win and even then I figured it would be close. I thought graves could very well win this game. Mayfield looked like the complete team and they played a complete game. Props to my cardinals! It's great to be a redbird fan!

I myself thought this would be a closer game. Graves plays hard and #28 Crider runs like a freight train. Our line did a great job tonight. I liked how the Kendal kid ran the ball.

Mayfield played some very good football tonight. Finally put a whole football game together. I think it was hard for the voters in the polls and football public to tell if Graves was as good as their record indicated. Hard to tell when you play down in class every week.

Final stats:

 

1st Downs ... Mayfield 16 ... Graves Co 13

Rushing ... Mayfield 32 x 149 yds ... Graves Co 30 x 99 yds

Passing ... Mayfield 290 yds ... Graves Co 181 yds

Total ... Mayfield 439 yds ... Graves Co 280 yds

Turnovers ... Mayfield - 1 ... Graves Co - 0

 

 

Puckett threw a pick. Should have been 2. So 1 turnover each side. Graves radio guy says Mayfield is not really 4 td's better than Graves. He's right, this easily could have been 60 something to 21 game. Red zone fumble and a dropped pass for a sure 6 as well as a missed field goal.

Puckett threw a pick. Should have been 2. So 1 turnover each side. Graves radio guy says Mayfield is not really 4 td's better than Graves. He's right' date=' this easily could have been 60 something to 21 game. Red zone fumble and a dropped pass for a sure 6 as well as a missed field goal.[/quote']

 

Graves said the same thing last year (56-28).

Mayfield was up 21 to 7 with less than a minute to go in the 1st half, but, the game still very competitive and the Eagles gave up a big punt return that put the Cards in scoring position inside the 20 yard line. Otherwise, the Cardinals likely would have taken a knee, but, instead scored another TD with 18 secs left in the half to go up 28-7 and going into the break with momentum on there side and also to get the ball to start the 2nd half with a chance to put the game away.

 

After a nice return by the Cardinals to near midfield to start the 3rd qtr, the Eagle D stepped up and forced a 3 and out and started there initial 2nd half drive at there own 38 yd line. They efficiently put together a 62 yard drive, getting big chunks of yardage throughout to cut the lead to 28-14 and the momentum had suddenly turned the Eagles way.

 

The Eagles K/O team made a great play on the ensuing kickoff, stopping the return at the 17 yd line. However, they were called for a facemask penalty to give the Cardinals much better field position at there own 32. From there, the Cardinals answered the Eagles score with a 68 yard drive of there own, putting them back up by 3 scores and again the swinging of momentum back in Mayfields favor.

 

That momentum was short lived, however, as the Eagles returned the ensuing kickoff for another score and once again cutting the lead to 2 scores at 35-21 midway thru the 3rd qtr and plenty of time for anything to happen.

 

Mayfield's Deion Jackson, not to be outdone, promptly answered with a kickoff return of his own, giving the Cards there 3 score advantage back at 42-21. This made 3 scores in a matter of about 30 seconds.

 

From there, Graves Co never could get another serious threat going and the Cardinals, with 7+ minutes remaining in the game, put together a last statement like drive, going to the ground and pounding 1st down after 1st down, finally resulting in a 5 yard TD run, but, more importantly, only leaving 1:18 to play, where it ended at 49-21.

 

To me, the key to the game was the ability of the Cardinals to answer every Eagle challenge they threw at them. Everytime the Eagles pulled within striking distance, the Cardinals answered and eventually broke the Eagles back and any hope they may have had for comeback.

 

Guhy was terrific tonight as he threw for 6 TDs and 290 yds thru the air. Deion Jackson came up huge once again with his punt and kickoff returns and several big catches in key spots in the game. For Graves, Puckett had a solid game throwing for 181 yards and RB Crider had numerous big runs in the game and kept a lot of Eagles drives alive throughout.

 

Both teams have a lot to look forward to the rest of the season.

I wish I could have been there...

TEAM STATISTICS

Graves — First downs: 16.

Rushing attempts-yards: 29-99.

Passing-yards:17-30-1, 174.

Total yards: 273.

Penalties-yards: 7-62.

Fumbles-lost: 2-0.

 

 

Mayfield — First downs: 21.

Rushing attempts-yards: 32-148.

Passing-yards:17-24-0, 298.

Total yards: 446.

Penalties-yards: 4-30.

Fumbles-lost: 1-1.

 

 

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Rushing — Graves: Crider 15-83, Puckett

4-(-18), Marshall 5-20, Tyler 1-12, Vowell

1-(-4), Dixon 2-6.

Mayfield: Mills 17-72,Kendall 9-53, Guhy 1-(-4),

Capuano 5-27.

 

 

Passing — Graves: Puckett 17-30-1,174.

Mayfield: Guhy 17-24-0, 298; Jackson 0-1-0, 0.

 

 

Receiving — Graves: Smith 1-1, Gray

1-2, Marshall 2-3, Kimbler 4-64, Williams

6-62, Crider 1-15, Vowell 1-27.

Mayfield: Bacon 4-65, Tucker 3-53, Kennemore

3-60, Mills 4-34, Jackson 3-86.