Daisjaun Mercer scored the first and last touchdowns of the game Friday, but his Senior Night was ultimately spoiled as the Hopkinsville High School football team dropped a 21-14 home district decision to Madisonville-North Hopkins.
The Tigers, who went up midway through the first quarter on Mercer’s 63-yard TD reception, gave up 21 unanswered points during the second and third quarters, and went over 100 yards in penalties for the third straight contest, falling to the Maroons for the first time since the second round of the 2019 Class 4A state playoffs.
Hoptown got one final chance to try and tie the game or take the lead after Mercer — a Miami (OH) commit — took a lateral and returned a MNHHS punt 45 yards to the Madisonville 30-yard line with 18 seconds remaining in the matchup. With no timeouts left, the Tigers then handed off to JoVaun Jackson and rushed back to the line. An official’s timeout to spot the ball gave HHS two seconds left, but a final toss downfield was incomplete to move Hopkinsville to 2-5 in 2022.
Despite having one of its seven punts blocked and falling behind 21-7 at the 6:21 mark of the third quarter, Hoptown still had plenty of chances to strike back. Following Lajuan McAdoo’s 9-yard TD run to make it a two-possession game, Jackson returned the ensuing kickoff 70 yards and set up Mercer’s 11-yard touchdown run that cut Madisonville’s lead to 21-14.
Those would be the last points of the night, though, as the teams traded an array of punts and possessions during the fourth quarter. Hopkinsville got two looks toward the end zone during the final 2:43, including a last ditch heave by QB Zach Moss with no time left on the clock.
It was the second district loss in as many games for the Tigers, who outgained the Maroons 213-192 on offense, but racked up 15 penalties for 144 yards. Hoptown also threw a pair of interceptions and had a tough night on special teams. Mercer did end up with three catches and 87 receiving yards, putting him over 500 for the season, but Moss was just 5-of-24 overall.
The duo of McAdoo (76) and Hightower (34) led to over 100 yards and two TDs on the ground for MNHHS, much of which came during a ground-and-pound second half. Dual-threat Maroons QB Anias Mitchell also completed just five passes, but had 21 yards rushing.
Tremaine Lovan had arguably the game’s biggest play when he returned a punt 71 yards for a touchdown with 4:19 left in the first half. Mitchell proceeded to hit Jovian Martin for a two-point conversion to put Madisonville ahead 14-7 at halftime. McAdoo added a pair of sacks on the defensive side of the ball to round out his monster night at Stadium of Champions.The Maroons move to 2-0 in the district standings.
In addition to his long kickoff return, Jackson finished with a game-high 77 rushing yards for Hoptown. Defensively, DeAnthony Brown had 13 tackles and the lone Tiger interception.
Hopkinsville now enters its bye week and won’t play again until an Oct. 14 road game at Calloway County. The Lakers (0-6) had their bye week this week and lost to the Tigers 59-3 in 2021.
SCORING PLAYS
HHS: (1Q, 7:33) Daisjaun Mercer 63-yard catch from Zach Moss (Moss kick)
MNHHS (2Q, 10:43) Markezz Hightower 6-yard run (Kick no good)
MNHHS (2Q, 4:19) Tremaine Lovan 71-yard punt return (Anias Mitchell to Jovian Martin 2-point conversion)
MNHHS (3Q, 6:21) Lajuan McAdoo 9-yard run (Lovan kick)
HHS (3Q, 4:49) Mercer 11-yard run (Moss kick)
