Jay’Den Dillard rushed for over 200 yards and three scores and the Hopkinsville Tigers rolled up almost 500 yards of offense in a 52-14 victory over visiting Hopkins County Central in the opening round of the KHSAA playoffs on Friday.
The Tigers eased past the Storm 35-7 two weeks ago and they were in front early after a 29-yard touchdown pass from Trey Jefferson to Daisjaun Mercer. However, the Tigers’ PAT was no good and the Storm answered with a 78-yard TD reception by Logan Rogers to take a 7-6 advantage.
Hopkins Central’s lead was short-lived, with Dillard single-handedly blowing the game open over the remainder of the 1st quarter. Dillard scored on consecutive possessions on runs of 63, 20, and 25 yards to give the Tigers a commanding 26-7 lead.
Not to be outdone, Jefferson carried Hoptown in the 2nd quarter with a trio of scoring throws. He hooked up with Mercer again for a 26-yard TD, followed by a 4-yard strike to KC Cabiness. Jefferson added the final touchdown of the half on a 53-yard connection with Emmanuel Cheatham for a 46-7 score at the break.
With a running clock in the 2nd half and the Tigers resting most of their starters, each team scored a single touchdown the rest of the way. Stringer capped the Storm’s first drive of the 3rd quarter with a 5-yard scoring run. The Tigers found the endzone in the 4th quarter on an 8-yard strike from Zach Moss to Jacquez Coleman.
After rushing for nearly 150 yards and a touchdown in the regular-season matchup, Dillard needed only the 1st half to rack up 224 yards and three touchdowns on 11 carries.
Jefferson was 9/12 with 197 yards and four touchdowns through the air, connecting with Cabbiness four times for 67 yards, Cheatham three times for 75, and Mercer twice for 55.
The Tigers held the Storm to only 27 yards on 27 attempts on the ground but yielded 266 yards through the air. Stringer was 15/32 with a touchdown and rushed for another. Rogers had six catches for 98 yards and Christian Stringer caught five for 112.
The Tigers improve to 7-4 and will look to avenge a 13-12 loss to Logan County on the road next Friday. The Tigers lost last season’s regular-season meeting with the Cougars before topping them 42-20 at the same stage last year.
