Hopkins County Central used its ground game to wear down the Fort Campbell Falcons to the tune of a 60-28 victory at Fryar Stadium.
The game, scheduled for an 8:00 kickoff, saw its start time pushed back to 8:30 due to triple-digit heat index readings on the field.
Both teams exchanged a pair of touchdowns in the first half, but the Storm capitalized on a pair of Falcon mistakes to score twice and take a 32-14 lead by halftime.
A short Falcon punt in its own end of the field set up Hopkins Central with its third touchdown – a 10-yard run by Logan Rodgers with 3:06 left before halftime.
Fort Campbell drove to the Storm’s 31-yard line but an interception ended the threat. Hopkins Central needed just four plays to drive down the field and punch in another score on a Calil McNary six-yard run with 1:16 left.
Hopkins Central scored three consecutive touchdowns coming out of the intermission to build a 47-14 lead with 3:36 left in the third quarter.
Hopkins County Central had 332 rushing yards on 40 carries with a pair of backs over 100 yards. McNary rushed for 101 yards on nine carries and Zayden Parker had 152 yards on just six carries, including touchdown runs of 67 and 49 yards in the second half.
Quarterback Isaac Earl added 95 yards on eight carries and was 7-of-11 passing for 91 yards.
After Hopkins Central opened the game with a fumble recovery for a touchdown, the Falcons matched the Storm with touchdowns on their next two drives.
Maurice Moore caught an 18-yard scoring strike from Jonah Weisbrich for the Falcons’ first score. Weisbrich then connected with J.P. Perryman on a 67-yard pass down the right sideline to get the Falcons to within 16-14 with 8:54 left in the first half.
In the third quarter after Parker’s first touchdown of the night, the Storm stripped Moore of the football on the kick return with Jeremiah Groves returning the fumble ten yards for the score and a 53-14 advantage that triggered the running clock.
On the ensuing kick, Moore wouldn’t be stripped again. In fact, he wouldn’t be touched as he raced 68 yards for his second kick return for a touchdown in as many weeks.
Moore would cap Fort Campbell’s scoring with a 43-yard pass from Weisbrich with 1:16 left. Moore finished with four catches for 74 yards.
Weisbrich was 12-of-31 passing for 223 yards. T.J. Dixon brought in three passes for 87 yards.
For the second straight week, the Falcons struggled to run the football totaling 17 yards on 14 carries. Keshawn Dixon had 41 yards on 11 carries.
For the night, the Storm outgained the Falcons 423-240.
Hopkins County Central is 2-0 for the first time since 2018. The meeting between Hopkins Central and Fort Campbell was the first in 23 years with the Storm now 4-0 all-time against the Falcons.
Fort Campbell’s record evens at 1-1 ahead of Friday’s home battle with Trigg County.
