Caudle leads Tigers past Red Devils

CHARLESTON — Junior quarterback Brayden Caudle got the offense going early and often for the Charleston Tigers on Friday night at Alumni Field.

Charleston scored on five of its six first-half possessions to build a big lead and didn’t look back after that in a 4220 victory against Atkins in a Class 3A-4 conference matchup.

Caudle, who entered the season without playing quarterback at any level of football, finished 9 of 14 passing for 254 yards with 3 touchdowns. He also added 42 yards on 4 carries.

“He is a kid that didn’t even play quarter back in little league,” Charleston coach Greg Kendrick said. “We saw some talent in him and knew it was there. Watching him from Week 1, he has grown so much. He has a high ceiling he isn’t close to yet.”

The Charleston offense started out clicking but even got some help from its special team unit to take a 35-7 lead into halftime.

The Tigers’ defense forced a fourth-down stop on the opening drive then just needed four plays to score the first touchdown of the game.

Caudle connected with senior wide receiver Sean Michael Flanagan for a 48-yard touchdown pass with 8 minutes, 54 seconds left in the first quarter.

Charleston (8-0, 5-0) was stopped from scoring on its second possession of the game but scored on the next four drives to add to its lead.

Junior running back Hunter Kengla scored on touchdown runs of 3 and 13 yards, while Caudle found Flanagan again on a one-play 51-yard drive to extend the lead to 28-0 for the Tigers.

Atkins (6-2, 4-1) was able to cut into the lead with a 5-yard touchdown run from senior running back Josh Jones in the second quarter.

But it didn’t take Charleston long to respond to the score. Senior Mason Wisdom took the kickoff on the next play and sprinted down the sideline for a 75-yard touchdown with just 36 left in the first half.

“We really executed as well as we have all year,” Kendrick said. “We really had a great week of practice with our senior leadership. When we put all three phases of the game together, we can be dangerous.”

Atkins had its opperunites in the first half, but interceptions by Charleston defensive backs Mason Keener and Brayden Ross helped eliminate the scoring potentials.

The Red Devils threw an interception on a fourthand-goal play from the 5 and had another drive stall on a fourth-and-9 at the Charleston 36 with another interception.

“We made some mistakes early,” Atkins coach Tommy Cody said. “This was a big stage. Charleston has been on that big stage, while our guys have not. We didn’t play well early. But I’m proud of our effort. Bottom line, they were better and we’ll learn from this.”

Charleston out-gained Atkins 297-160 in offensive yards in the first half.

The Tigers got the ball to open the second half and put the game well out of reach with a five-play touchdown drive. Caudle found senior wide receiver Isaac Verkamp for a 35-yard score to push the lead out to 42-7.

Flanagan finished with 2 catches for 99 yards including 2 touchdowns for the Tigers. Kengla had 7 carries for 44 yards with 2 touchdowns.

Atkins was led by quarterback Zack Harris, who finished 10 of 21 passing for 128 yards. Gage Rehm added 60 yards on the ground with a touchdown on 11 carries.