Caudle, Charleston roll over Melbourne 37-14

CONWAY — The Charleston Tigers show no signs of slowing down.

Winners of three state championships this decade and returning from a 12-1 record last season, Charleston followed senior quarterback Brayden Caudle to a 37-14 victory over the Melbourne Bearkatz at Hendrix College’s Young-Wise Memorial Stadium on Friday night.

Caudle completed 24 of 33 passes for 339 yards and 3 touchdowns.

“Brayden does a great job,” Charleston coach Greg Kendrick said. “He was a little rusty early, but I thought he settled in and made plays when we needed them.”

Charleston threatened to score on its second possession, but junior Noah McSpadden sacked Caudle on third and 1 from the Melbourne 7 to force a fumble recovered by senior linebacker Silas Motes at the 14.

Melbourne followed the turnover with a nine- play, 86-yard drive completed by junior running back Alex Bray’s 1-yard touchdown run. With a two-point conversion pass from Gabe Lawrence to Bray, Melbourne took an 8-0 lead with 10:50 left in the second quarter.

Lawrence completed 13 of 30 passes for 165 yards and 1 touchdown.

Charleston responded on its next possession with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Caudle to junior receiver Kaleb Fisher to pull within 8-7.

“We played a pretty solid game,” Caudle said. “I was really impressed by our offensive line. They’re young, and I thought they’d be iffy, but they really showed up and played a good game.”

Caudle is one of three returning starters for Charleston.

“You could tell we are very young early, but I was proud of the way our group jelled in the second quarter,” Kendrick said. “I saw a football team grow up in front of my eyes.”

Melbourne’s next drive was stopped on four plays, and Charleston took a 10-8 lead with senior Josh Taggert’s 36-yard field goal with 4:50 left in the second quarter.

Charleston again held Melbourne without a first down, then scored on the second play of its next drive with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Caudle to junior receiver Isaac Nason.

After defensive lineman Shane Turner recovered a Melbourne fumble, Charleston needed two plays to score. The first was a 38-yard pass from Caudle to junior receiver Geoffrey Scott, and the second was a 2-yard run by Scott that gave Charleston a 23-8 lead late in the first half.

Caudle started the second half with a 37-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Mason Keener to give Charleston a 30-8 lead.

Melbourne pulled within 30-14 on Lawrence’s 12-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Pitts with 43.3 seconds left in the third quarter, but Charleston was out of reach after Caudle’s 6-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Dalton Curtis with 6:33 left in the game.

“It took us a while to get in a rhythm,” Kendrick said. “I was curious that if we took a gut punch early, how we would respond. I was really proud of the kids tonight.”