The Hopkinsville Tigers came into Saturday’s 4A District 1 title matchup with Madisonville-North Hopkins on a three-game winning streak, with the last loss a narrow 20-18 setback to the Maroons in Madisonville. The Tigers looked set to avenge that loss and move on in the playoffs with an early 14-0 lead, but the Maroons stormed back and prevailed 28-21 after a rollercoaster fourth quarter at the Stadium of Champions.
The Tigers enjoyed a strong start, scoring on an opening drive that spanned almost the first 7 minutes of the game on a 12-yard touchdown run by quarterback Jay Bland.
After Bland hit Reece Jesse for a 30-yard gain on 4th an 15 down to the Madisonville 3-yard line, Hoptown doubled its advantage when Bland found the endzone on first down.
The Maroons began clawing their way back and wrestled some momentum away from the Tigers just before halftime on a 7-yard pass from quarterback Hayden Reynolds to Deljuan Johnson to trim the lead to 14-7 at the break.
Madisonville running back Jeriah Hightower had the Maroons level with less than 3 minutes played in the second half, scoring on a 15-yard run. The Maroons seemed to be on a roll, but with a chance to take the lead, Simen Lind missed on a 30-yard field goal attempt with 1:32 left in the third.
However, Hightown was in the endzone again to give the Maroons their first lead at 21-14, scoring from 3 yards out with 10:58 to play. The Tigers answered with a 52-yard pass from Bland to Tyrell Gray-Lewis down to the Madisonville six. But on 2nd and goal from the 6, Bland mishandled the snap and the Maroons fell on it to seemingly end the threat.
But the Tigers’ defense kept the Maroons pinned deep and with Reynolds rolling out on 3rd and 5 from the 13, the Tigers forced the fumble and recovered at the three. Bland made no mistake this time, diving in the endzone on 1st down to knot the game at 21-21 with 5:20 left.
After fumbling on the previous possession to put the Tigers in position to score, Madisonville’s Reynolds found redemption when he burst through the line on a draw play and couldn’t be caught for a 55-yard go-ahead touchdown with 4:01 on the clock.
After a kickoff out of bounds, the Tigers drove to the Maroons’ 19, where they faced a 4th and 8 with :52 to play. Bland’s pass sailed over the head of Jesse and Madisonville held on for the win.
Bland finished 14-32 for 217 yards, while also running for 22 yards and 3 scores. Jayden Dillard rushed 15 times for 42 yards, while Gray-Lewis caught 5 passes for 93 yards.
Reynolds threw for 152 yards on 7-16 passing with a touchdown and ran 6 times for 64 yards and a score. Hightower got going in the second half to finish with 172 yards on 21 carries with 2 touchdowns.
The Tigers held a 31:13 to 16:17 possession advantage, but were penalized 14 times for 104 yards.
The Maroons move on to host Franklin-Simpson next week in Madisonville. The Wildcats beat Allen County-Scottsville 56-20 on Friday night.