The Hopkinsville Tigers built some preseason momentum with a 31-7 victory over visiting West Creek, TN, on Friday night at the Stadium of Champions.
After missing out on a pair of meetings with West Creek at the Best of the West 7-on-7 last month, Daisjaun Mercer introduced himself to the Coyotes with a trio of touchdowns and an interception in less than three quarters of action.
Mercer opened the scoring on a 34-yard touchdown pass from Zach Moss with 3:17 left to play in the first quarter. Then, early in the second, Jacquez Coleman doubled the advantage on an acrobatic 18-yard scoring catch for a 13-0 score.
With the Coyotes backed up in their own end and facing 3rd and long, Mercer picked off a pass over the middle and returned it 45 yards for his second score.
After a Tiger safety stretched the lead to 22-0, West Creek took advantage of a short field to score its only touchdown on a 16-yard pass with just over five minutes left in the half.
A dominant, nearly six-minute drive to open the 3rd quarter was the last action for the Hoptown first-string offense. Mercer capped it off with a 13-yard catch, and the Tiger defense forced another safety for the final 31-7 score.
The Tigers will host another scrimmage next Friday before heading to Louisville to face Ballard in the first of three away games to start the regular season. Hoptown dropped last season’s meeting with the Bruins 28-3.
