On a night when the Hopkinsville Tiger football team played with heavy hearts and honored one of their own, the Calloway County Lakers offered little resistance in a 49-0 Tiger win at the Stadium of Champions. Freshman defensive back Elijah “E.J.” Austin died a week ago, leaving the team and community in mourning. E.J.’s mother, Brandee Austin, served as an honorary team captain and a moment of silence was observed before the game. E.J.’s number 11 was painted in each endzone and on a decal on each Tiger helmet, and a group of family, fans, and students formed a circle at midfield and released balloons over the Stadium. It was bound to be an emotional night, and the Tigers responded with an emphatic victory.
Hopkinsville deferred and gave Calloway the ball to start the game. On the Lakers’ first play from scrimmage the Tigers forced a fumble and recovered, setting them up on the Calloway 21. Junior running back Jordan Hopson put the Tigers on the board quickly with a short touchdown run.
The Lakers couldn’t move the ball and were forced to punt. Sophomore punter Ian Clark mishandled the snap and the Tigers fell on it, giving them the ball on the Laker 29 yard line. However, the Tigers went backward and had to punt. On fourth down, the snap sailed over senior punter Taylor Harton’s head, forcing him to scramble back to recover, still getting off a decent punt.
The Lakers had to punt again, with the Tigers taking over on the Calloway 40 yard line. Sophomore quarterback Jay Bland hit senior wide receiver Gavin Marschand for a 29 yard gain down the the 11. After an offside penalty on the Tigers and a stuffed 3rd down run, Bland would take it in on a keeper from 6 yards. The Harton PAT would be good, doubling the Tigers’ lead.
The Lakers’ offense went backwards, including a sack by Denarius Barns that pushed Calloway back to their own 15. A short punt out of bounds handed the Tigers the ball on the Laker 31. The Tigers couldn’t move the ball and punted, pinning the Lakers at their own 7. Calloway gave themselves a little breathing room, but still had to punt, with the Tigers starting at the 29 yard line. Bland found freshman wide receiver Reece Jesse with a 29 yard touchdown strike on first down, pushing the lead to 21-0 after the made PAT.
A touchback on the kickoff gave Calloway the ball on their own 20 with 48 seconds left in the first quarter. The Lakers again went the wrong way, with a sack by Tiger senior Tavion Sanders leaving Calloway with a 4th and 16 from their own 15 as the first quarter ended.
The Tigers lost yards on their first possession of the second quarter, and the fourth down snap again sailed over Harton’s head. Once again he made a great play to run down the loose ball and get the punt off, with the Tigers downing the ball on the Calloway 24. On first down, Hoptown freshman TaQuavion Coleman intercepted Laker sophomore quarterback John Foster at the Calloway 45. The Tigers moved down the field on the strength of a long run by sophomore Jevon Leavell and a long pass from Bland to senior Andrew King. Leavell finished the drive with a 13 yard touchdown run, giving the Tigers a four touchdown lead.
The Hoptown defense again pushed the Lakers backwards, in large part to a sack by sophomore Erick Grubbs that left the Lakers in a 4th and 16 from their own 14. After a punt downed at the Calloway 39, Bland hooked up with Jesse again to the 1 yard line, and JaKevis Bryant punched it in from there. Down 35-0, Calloway finally picked up a first down, but didn’t cross midfield and were facing a 4th and 10 as time expired on the first half.
The Tigers returned the second half kickoff to their own 40, before Bland hit freshman Lane Rushing, giving them a first down at the Laker 31. A long touchdown run by senior Mitchell Degenhardt came back on a holding call, but after a gain to the 9, Bland connected with Andrew King for a 9 yard touchdown. Once again, the PAT was good and the Tiger lead of 42-0 triggered the running clock.
On the ensuing possession Calloway picked up its second first down of the game, but a Tiger sack, this time by sophomore Hayden Lackey, forced a punt from the Laker 28. Degenhardt returned the punt to the Calloway 47, and Gavin Marschand took over at quarterback. Hoptown were staying with the ground game now to chew up clock, but couldn’t move the ball and punted, resulting in a touchback.
On the first play of the fourth quarter the Tigers got to the Laker quarterback again, with senior Elijah Rawlins collecting the sack. Calloway punted again and Marschand returned it to the Laker 20. On first down, from the quarterback position, Marschand kept it himself for a 20 yard touchdown run. Senior Morgan Demps knocked in the PAT for the final score of 49-0 with 8:15 left in the game.
Calloway picked up a first down with 4 minutes left, but were forced to go for it on 4th down and were again sacked. After the turnover on downs, time expired, giving the Tigers their second win of the season.
Hopkinsville secured a playoff spot with the win and can improve their playoff position when they travel to Morton’s Gap next week to face the 2-6 Hopkins County Central Storm.