Head coach Craig Clayton will be the first to admit that his squad didn’t really have any two-point conversion plays in its arsenal heading into Friday’s showdown at Madisonville-North Hopkins.
And after losing senior kicker Mason Marschand early in the game, that fact proved costly in the Hopkinsville High School football team’s 20-18 road loss to the Maroons.
With an opportunity to clinch the district championship and home-field advantage through the first two rounds of the state playoffs, the Tigers clawed out of a 20-point hole in the second half and had a two-point try with 21 seconds remaining that would have likely forced overtime.
Like the other two attempts before it, however, Hoptown came up short of the end zone. HHS finished 0-for-3 on two-point tries, unable to attempt an extra point on all three of its second-half touchdowns. The loss to Madisonville creates a log jam atop the Class 4A, District 1 standings – a scenario that will likely see the Tigers, Maroons and Logan County all finish 2-1 in district play, which would require the new KHSAA RPI to decide the playoff seeding.
It didn’t even appear that Hopkinsville would have a last-ditch opportunity on Friday, as the No. 7-ranked Maroons dominated the first half. Following a Hoptown fumble on the game’s opening drive, MNHHS (7-1) put up 14 quick points on a Marquise Parker 10-yard catch and Jeriah Hightower 32-yard run – both in the first quarter.
Madisonville continued to pour it on in the third quarter, when Gunner Dameron’s 35-yard punt return for a TD staked the Maroons – who also lost their starting kicker to injury – to a 20-point win midway through the third quarter.
With 3:48 to go in that same period, though, Reece Jesse caught the first of his two touchdowns, pulling Hopkinsville within 20-6 of the Maroons, and snapping a 10-quarter scoreless streak against a stingy Madisonville defense.
Lane Rushing, who continued to show his emergence as a top offensive weapon for Hoptown, helped his team capture the game’s momentum with a five-yard touchdown catch as time expired to end the third period, cutting Madisonville’s advantage to 20-12.
The sixth-ranked Tigers (5-3), who managed to dodge some bullets despite a pair of converted Maroon fake punts, eventually forced a MNHHS punt with 5:03 to go, and Jesse’s five-yard snag capped a 55-yard scoring drive to give Hopkinsville the chance to tie with mere seconds to go, but Bland’s two-point pass sailed incomplete to all but end the contest.
Madisonville senior running back Hightower, who came into the game as the state’s leading rusher, and ranking third in the country in rushing yards (1,723), racked up 107 yards and a TD in the first half, but was basically a non-factor during the final 24 minutes, thanks to a strong effort by the Tiger defense.
Hopkinsville will now enjoy its bye week, followed by another district trip Oct. 25 at Hopkins County Central and then a non-district regular season finale at home against Paducah Tilghman. The Maroons are at Calloway County next week and then host Mayfield on Nov. 1.
—- Chris Jung
SCORE BY QUARTER
HHS (5-3, 2-1 district) 0 0 12 6 – 18
MNHHS (7-1, 2-1 district) 14 0 6 0 – 20
SCORING PLAYS
MNHHS: 1Q (8:43), Marquise Parker 10-yard catch from Hayden Reynold (Simen Lind kick)
MNHHS: 1Q (4:21), Jeriah Hightower 32-yard run (Lind kick)
MNHHS: 3Q (6:14), Gunner Dameron 35-yard punt return (two-point conversion no good)
HHS: 3Q (3:48), Reese Jesse 5-yard catch from Jay Bland (two-point conversion no good)
HHS: 3Q (0:00), Lane Rushing 5-yard catch from Bland (two-point conversion no good)
HHS: 4Q (0:21), Jesse 5-yard catch from Bland (two-point conversion no good)
