Madisonville-North Hopkins withstood a late rally to spoil the football season opener for Caldwell County late Saturday night.
The Tigers trimmed an 18-point halftime deficit down to just seven points and got the ball back with two minutes to play, but came up just short in dropping a 37-29 decision in the second annual Browning Chevrolet Bowl at the Badgett Athletic Complex in Madisonville.
Fans who stuck around for the contest, which kicked off after 9 p.m., got an offensive treat, as the teams combined for 753 yards.
Down 27-9 at halftime, Caldwell regrouped from several costly first half mistakes to make a game of it.
The turnaround started when Sam Grace intercepted a Maroon pass and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown. The PAT failed, but Caldwell was within 27-15 midway through the third quarter.
Following a 32-yard field goal by Madisonville’s Rush Dugger, the Tigers put together a 76-yard drive that was capped by a 2-yard quarterback keeper by Will Barnes.
The big play of the drive was a 24-yard scamper by Brandon Sigler on a fake punt.
“Brandon called the fake punt himself,” noted Caldwell head coach David Barnes. “He said it was there and he took it. He made that call on his own.”
Barnes then threw to John Paul Boitnott for the two-point conversion, trimming Madisonville’s lead to 30-23 with still 11:57 left in the contest.
But the Tigers couldn’t come up with a defensive stop on the ensuing possession.
Madisonville used a 36-yard pass from Matt Levin to Ryan Robinson to set up a 24-yard touchdown run by Chris Scisney in a tidy three-play drive. That put the Maroons up 37-23 with 10:50 to play.
The Tigers misfired on their next two possessions, punting once and turning the ball over on an interception.
However, Madisonville was even less efficient, going three-and-out twice and taking very little time off the clock.
The Tigers made the final moments interesting when a 15-play drive was capped by a 6-yard Sigler touchdown run. The Tigers missed the extra point, but were within 37-29 with 2:16 to play.
Following a failed onside kick attempt, Madisonville was able to run just 24 seconds off the clock — twice throwing incompletions.
The Maroons were forced to punt on 4th-and-10, with Caldwell getting the ball back at its own 18 with 1:52 to play.
But the Tigers couldn’t gain yardage, turning the ball over on downs to seal their fate.
“We made a lot of mistakes in the first half, whether it was kinda a first game thing or whatever,” said Barnes. “But the way we battled back in the second half says a lot about these kids.”
Barnes told his team after the contest: “I’ve never seen a team with as much heart as you showed in the second half. That was a super effort. That’s a 6A school and that’s a good team over there. You can count on this — we will win some ballgames and we will win some big games this year.”
Madisonville took advantage of an early Tiger fumble to go up 7-0. Levin completed a 32-yard scoring toss to Isiah White on the Maroons’ first play from scrimmage.
Caldwell got on the scoreboard when a 47-yard Sigler punt backed Madisonville up to its own 3. Tron Gray sacked Levin in the end zone on the next play for a safety to make it 7-2.
The Tigers then went ahead on their ensuing possession, Barnes scrambling out the pocket and finding Sigler, who broke a tackle at the 5 and scored on a 13-yard pass connection. Glenn Gray kicked the PAT to put the Tigers up 9-7.
But the second quarter belonged to the Maroons.
A 14-yard pass to Joe Kington put Madisonville up 13-9.
Levin then hooked up with Scisney on a 4-yard TD pass to make it 20-9.
Tray Carr scored on an 8-yard run to help extend Madisonville’s lead to 27-9 at halftime.
Madisonville’s Levin finished the night 19 of 29 passing for 258 yards and three touchdowns with one interception.
Caldwell’s Barnes was 23 of 42 for 185 yards and a touchdown but was picked off twice.
The Maroons gained 154 yards on the ground and finished with 412 total yards.
The Tigers had 156 yards rushing and 341 total yards.
Caldwell committed three turnovers while Madisonville had just one.
The Tigers will be back in action on Friday when they face Glasgow in the Trice Hughes Chevrolet Bowl at Tiger Stadium.
Glasgow dropped its opener to Allen County-Scottsville Saturday night, falling 42-26 in the T.J. Samson Bowl at Barren County.
Crittenden County and Lone Oak kick off the Trice Hughes Chevrolet Bowl at 6 p.m., with the Tigers and Scotties playing the late game.
