After a close loss to Madisonville-North Hopkins followed by a bye week, the Hopkinsville football team bounced back in a big way on Friday night, taking a 29-0 lead after the first quarter on the way to a 55-13 victory over hosts Hopkins County Central.
With the win, the Tigers keep hope of the top seed in the district alive and claim their fourth victory in five outings to move to 6-3 overall. The Storm have a bye week coming up, but they will miss the playoffs and end the year at 0-10.
The Tigers got all the offense they would need in the first quarter, beginning with a 33-yard touchdown completion from Jay Bland to Reece Jesse on their first play from scrimmage. After a bad snap on the extra-point attempt, holder Ryan Myers found Conner Lackey in the endzone to tack on the 2-point conversion.
After a fumble recovery by CJ Walton gave Hoptown the ball at the Storm 27, the Tigers wasted no time getting back in the endzone on a 2-yard plunge by Denarius “Red” Barnes for a 15-0 advantage.
Hopkins Central failed to field the ensuing kickoff and the Tigers fell on it on the Storm 12, with Bland and Jesse hooking up again for a 12-yard touchdown for a 22-0 lead with 7:08 left in the first quarter.
The Storm showed some life on their next possession, but after quarterback Adrian Stringer’s pass was deflected by Erick Grubbs, the Tigers’ Jaxon Davis came up with the interception on the 1-yard line to end the threat.
With less than a minute to play in the opening quarter, Jesse was at it again as he collected a pass from Bland and beat a group of Storm defenders down the sideline for an 82-yard scoring strike and a 29-0 lead.
The Tigers’ final score of the first half came on a 7-yard touchdown run by Jevon Leavell with 5:10 left in the half, giving Hoptown a 36-0 halftime advantage.
With the game in hand and a running clock, the Tigers gave many of their starters some rest in the second half. Junior Isaaya Brooks took full advantage of his opportunity, scoring on third-quarter runs of 2 and 28 yards.
Trailing 49-0, the Storm finally got on the board when Stringer hit Colin Rodgers for a 4-yard touchdown reception, followed on their next possession by a 27-yard strike to Blasin Moore for a 49-13 score with 2:32 to play.
Leavell capped the rout with a kickoff-return touchdown, and the Tigers let the clock expire before the extra-point attempt for the final 55-13 score.
Things will get more difficult in the Tigers’ regular-season finale next week, with Paducah Tilghman making the trip to the Stadium of Champions. Hoptown will be looking for some measure of revenge for last season’s 47-13 loss to the 7-2 Blue Tornado.