Paducah Tilghman (0-0) vs. Henry Clay (0-0) August 23, 2003

Coach Perry Thomas' Paducah Tilghman squad finished 12-3 last season and returns 20 of 22 starters from last year's team.  6-1 210 pound Sr. RB Joe Casey ran for over 2300 yards last season and scored 34 touchdowns.  6-5 215 pound Sr. QB Hunter Cantwell has thrown for over 5000 yards and completed 49 scoring strikes in his career.  Casey and Cantwell have the luxury of operating behind an experienced offensive line.  The Blue Tornado defensive unit is expected to be among the state's best this season. 

Coach Sam Simpson's Henry Clay Blue Devils finished 8-5 last season but lost a lot of weapons on offense from last year's squad.  The Blue Devils worked hard in the weight room this summer and return eight starters on defense.  Josh Wright, Matt Walker, and Steven Dominianni return at LB and they have a play-maker at strong safety in Mychal Dabney.  Ben Walmsley and Daniel Peterson anchor the line.  Aubrey White returns at WR and he caught 58 passes for 861 yards last season.  White may move around a bit this season in order to get him more touches.  Soph Salin Simpson and Jr. Justin Farmer are expected to compete for the starting QB job.

Paducah Tilghman exploded for a 26-0 second quarter lead and cruised to a 47-26 victory over Henry Clay.  The highly touted 1-2 punch of Hunter Cantwell and Joe Casey were as good as advertised and lived up to their considerable pre-season hype.  Casey carried the ball 19 times for 184 yards and scored on runs of 59 and eight yards.  Cantwell completed 12 of 20 passes for 173 yards and scoring strikes of 80 and 15 yards.  The defense was not to be outdone as they scored twice on fumble recoveries and once on an interception return. 

Henry Clay's Justin Farmer completed seven of 12 passes for 208 yards and two touchdowns.  Aubrey White caught three passes for 139 yards with scoring receptions of 65 and 55 yards.  Matt Walker scored on runs of 17 and one yard.  LB Steven Dominianni recorded nine solo tackles and two assisted stops.

Scoring Summary

Paducah Tilghman

47

Henry Clay

26

School	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Final
Paducah Tilghman	19	7	14	7	47
Henry Clay	0	6	0	20	26

PT	- Joe Casey 59 yard run (kick blocked)
PT	- Anthony Barton 15 yard pass from Hunter Cantwell (run fails)
PT	- Tim Laster 22 yard fumble recovery (Andrew Carr kick)
PT	- Kenny Hawkins 80 yard pass from Cantwell (Carr kick)
HC	- Aubrey White 65 yard pass from Justin Farmer (pass fails)
PT	- Casey 8 yard run (kick blocked)
PT	- Chris Fountain 13 yard fumble recovery (Laster pass from Barton)
HC	- Matt Walker 17 yard run (Peter Mashni kick)
HC	- White 55 yard pass from Farmer (Mashni kick)
PT	- Lamar Alston 10 yard interception return (Carr kick)
HC	- Walker 1 yard run (kick fails)

 

Selected Statistics
 

Paducah Tilghman						Henry Clay
Rushing	No.	Yds.	Avg.	Long		Rushing	No.	Yds.	Avg.	Long
Joe Casey	19	184	9.7	59		Matt Walker	19	49	2.6	17
Jaffar Green	3	7	2.3	4		Aubrey White	6	16	2.7	15
Desmond Bailey	4	1	0.2	4		Clayton Heien	2	9	4.5	7
Logan Parrott	1	-6	-6.0	0		Mychal Dabney	2	1	0.5	2
Hunter Cantwell	4	-23	-5.8	3		Rod Johnson	1	0	0.0	0
						Justin Farmer	1	-5	-5.0	0
						Salin Simpson	3	-17	-5.7	0
Passing	A-C-I	Yds.	TD	Long		Passing	A-C-I	Yds.	TD	Long
Hunter Cantwell	20-12-0	173	2	80		Justin Farmer	12-7-0	208	2	65
Logan Parrott	0-0-0	0	0	0		Salin Simpson	9-3-1	30	0	15
Receiving	No.	Yds.	TD	Long		Receiving	No.	Yds.	TD	Long
Anthony Barton	8	67	1	15		Aubrey White	3	139	2	65
Kenny Hawkins	2	90	1	80		Sam Gardner	3	69	0	36
Joe Casey	1	9	0	9		Mychal Dabney	2	7	0	7
Eric Cannon	1	7	0	7		Matt Walker	1	15	0	15
						Rod Johnson	1	8	0	8

Acknowledgements

A special thanks to WL Stats crew for the comprehensive stats provided for tonight's game.

Other Games of Interest

Lexington Catholic

49

Prestonsburg

6

QB Justin Burke made his first varsity start memorable as he completed 14 of 19 passes for 218 yards and three TD passes.  Phillip Martin added punch to the ground game with four rushing touchdowns. For a complete write-up of this game, click [here]. 
 

St. Xavier

38

Scott County

6

K. J. Austin-Bruce led St. Xavier to a big win today with 192 yards on the ground and four touchdowns.  For a complete write-up of this game, click [here]. 

Montgomery Bell Academy (TN)

17

Trinity

13

MBA knocked off the #1 ranked team in Kentucky despite Trinity QB Brian Brohm completing 34 of 53 passes for 414 yards and a touchdown. 

Mason County

48

Breathitt County

6

QB Dustin Grutza completed eight of 13 passes for 337 yards and three touchdowns, and ran for another score.  Chris Lofton caught six passes for 254 yards and scoring receptions of 79 and 32 yards. 

Woodford County	40		Anderson County	6
Lexington Christian	56		Louisville Evangel Christian	6
Paul Dunbar	20		Garrard County	6
Danville	22		Manual	7
Estill County	62		Montgomery County	6
Pineville	13		Berea	12
Bell County	62		Marion County	7
Bowling Green	41		Southwestern	0
Boyd County	18		Belfry	0
Lawrence County	26		Pikeville	0
Louisville Christian	39		North Oldham	14
Cincinnati Colerain	42		Boone County	6
Middlesboro	25		Ashland Blazer	21
Male	48		Oldham County	35
Warren Central	42		Central Hardin	10
St. Pius X	21		Covington Catholic	16
Muhlenberg South	46		Muhlenberg North	12
Murray	35		Lone Oak	7
Rockcastle County	21		LaRue County	8

Please send your comments and questions to Ron Harrison at prepgridiron@yahoo.com.

Ron Harrison’s reports on this and other football events appear on https://www.angelfire.com/ky2/prepgridiron.