Blake Gardner (21) at left heads toward a career-best 266 yards while T.K. Guess (14) at right gets back to near 100-percent playing shape and collects 75 yards receiving as Crittenden dismantles Russellville. Inset photo, defensive coordinator Vince Clark and his defense were on top of their game Friday, holding Russellville's first team to literally no yards on the ground and very few via the air.

Rockets T-bone Russellville
Gardner gets 266 yds., breaks 1,000

RUSSELLVILLE, Ky. (Oct. 28, 2005) - With a swift, brutal blow, Crittenden County delivered the knockout punch early and danced merrily toward a surprisingly easy 59-6 triumph at Russellville Friday.

The victory provided the Rockets (8-2) a second-place finish in the Class A Second District and a homefield advantage for the first round of the playoffs. The state's 12-ranked Rockets will host Fulton County, the third seed in the First District, to open the postseason next Friday, Nov. 5.

Despite the lopsided victory at Russellville (7-3), there remains a bitter taste in Crittenden's mouth because the team didn't win the league title. A loss four weeks ago at Metcalfe County has left the Rockets with a sense of emptiness, but at the same provided a great deal of motivation for their complete dominance of the final four opponents of the regular season.

What's looming in the near future, should Crittenden get past the Pilots next week is a showdown with arch-nemesis Mayfield in what will certainly be one of the marquee games in the entire state during the second round of the post-season tournament. It's there that the Rockets hope to quench their appetite for a measure of revenge over the ever-present Cardinals and paint a playoff picture for a rematch at Metcalfe in the regional finale.

At Russellville, Crittenden's shock-and-awe offense was out of the chute and ahead 24-0 before Russellville could load their mouth pieces. The Rockets took an 8-0 lead after an 8-play, 69-yard drive to open the game, then the defense stuffed Russellville for a three-and-out. The Panthers punted and T.K. Guess turned on the jets down the left sideline for a 62-yard return, outrunning everyone on the field.

Next, an onside kick was recovered by the Rockets and four plays later ­ after a long pass reception by Guess and two big runs by Gardner ­ Crittenden punched in its third touchdown of the game just under seven minutes from the opening bell. The Rockets held a three-touchdown advantage before Russellville had run its fourth play of the game. The rout was on.

Gardner continued his manly running chores, netting a career-best 266 yards on 21 carries and scoring two touchdowns. His efforts put the senior running back over the 1,000-yard plateau for the season. Guess, who had been nursing a bad shoulder since Week 6, appeared to be back to normal with 75 yards receiving, the punt return and on defense he returned a fumble for a touchdown.

Russellville never had an answer for the Rockets' rumbling offense. Crittenden fumbled twice and was stopped on fourth down once, but never punted. It reeled off big plays one after another and piled up 322 yards on the ground and 101 through the air.

Senior quarterback Austin Berry was 5-for-6 passing and threw for one touchdown, an 11-yard strike to Jacob Courtney late in the second period. The Rockets led 45-6 at halftime. Josh Franklin and backup tailback Jeramie Sorina finished off the scoring in the last half.

Defensively, Crittenden dominated the Panthers' highly-billed running game. Russellville sophomore Dustin Sydnor was averaging about 100 yards a game, but was a non-factor with just one net yard on eight carries. Only three of his runs were for positive yards.

The last four games, Crittenden has outscored its opponents 171-20. That's been since its disappointing loss at Metcalfe.