The boys First District Champions were crowed Monday night after a battle between the McCracken County Mustangs and Paducah Tilghman Blue Tornado closed out a girls/boys doubleheader. With a 2-0 victory, McCracken County earned their 11th straight district title.
From the jump, the Mustangs and Blue Tornado played like true cross-town and district rivals. Tilghman brought the offensive pressure early, looking to score their first goal against McCracken since 2022. Several chances looked good, including a ball that bounced off the crossbar and booted out of play with 30 minutes on the first half clock.
McCracken answered back with a steady offensive presence of their own, finding several opportunities of their own. Tilghman keeper Blain Oliver would get the better of several of those Mustang attacks until the first half neared an end.
A smooth boot from McCracken County’s Dawson Beyer just over the right shoulder of Dexter Pacheco and a little room to go, would put the Mustangs up 1-0 with 4:47 left in the first half.
“They (Tilghman) were playing a very high line, so our midfielders just had to look up, hit it over the top and it’s usually a one-on-one or two-on-one with another defender,” Pacheco said. “They played us pretty tough, but we absorbed it, moved the ball around and we got a couple on them.”
The Mustangs would double down 40 seconds before heading into the locker room when another precise pass led to a header in the box for the 2-0 score. Jake Hazel would loop a rainbow over his own head and the head of many defenders inside a crowded box with Julian Warfield there ready with the header.
“It all came down to the service,” Warfield said. “Hazel was there and got the ball team me, there wasn’t much that I did except finish it. When we play as a team like that we can always get the goals.”
The half would sit at 2-0 as would the remainder of the night. The energy from either team never wavered though, as both teams came out in the second half eager to keep battling. And as the battle continued the yellow cards would start to fly both ways, but none ultimately altering the game.
McCracken and Tilghman will both advance to the First Region tournament next week, but will have to wait and see who their opponents will be. The Second District tournament just got underway on Monday night and will wrap up Thursday.