The Hopkinsville Tigers are hoping to put what has been an ‘up and down’ season to date behind them Friday night. The Tigers are on the road to take on Franklin-Simpson in the opening round of the Class 4A football playoffs.
The good news for the Tigers is that they come into the game on a three-game winning streak that includes a solid win last week at Paducah Tilghman. A win at Franklin would help to start putting a difficult regular season in the rearview mirror.
Hoptown opened the season with a pair of losses to Ballard Mayfield, losses in which the Tigers failed to light up their side of the scoreboard.
The Tigers then won 2 of their next 3 before district losses to Logan County and Madisonville-North Hopkins. The 21-14 loss to the Maroons is what sent the Tigers on the road for the opening round.
Hoptown then found some rhythm to close out the season. The Tigers easily handled Calloway County and Hopkins Central before taking down Tilghman on the road last weekend to close out the regular season with a record of 5-5.
The series with Franklin-Simpson has not been kind as of late to the Tigers. Hopkinsville has not beaten the Wildcats since 2005 when they picked up a 46-20 win in the Class 3A playoffs. Franklin-Simpson has won the last four meetings between the two schools, two of those coming in the playoffs, and two of the four wins being in overtime.
Franklin-Simpson comes into the night at 7-3. The losses came to Warren East, Logan County, and Greenwood.
The Wildcats will look to ‘ground’ it out against the Tigers, as they have rushed for nearly 2500 yards while passing for less than 700. That ground attack is led by Blake McPherson, who was rushed for 831 yards and 5 touchdowns. Gavin Dickerson has 455 yards and 8 touchdowns, while Layne Alford has carried the ball for 331 yards and 8 touchdowns.
Quarterbacks Mathias Dickerson and Brady Delk have combined to average less than seven passing attempts per game this season for the Wildcats.
Hopkinsville has been a bit more balanced on offense this season, passing for 1308 yards and rushing for 1396.
One of the keys for Franklin-Simpson will be finding a way to control Daisjaun Mercer, who has 5 rushing touchdowns, 8 receiving touchdowns, and one pick-six on defense.
Kickoff Friday night is set for 7:30 in Franklin. The winner of the Hopkinsville-Franklin-Simpson game gets the winner of Logan County-Allen County-Scottsville in Week 2.
