Madisonville-North Hopkins’ Markezz Hightower ran around, over, and through visiting Fort Campbell on Friday, finding the endzone five times to lead the Maroons to their third-straight blowout victory.
Madisonville’s 56-7 win is the third week in a row the Maroons have prevailed by at least 32 points, improving their record to 3-1 ahead of a trip to Marshall County.
The Maroons outgained Fort Campbell 445 yards to 151, churning out 288 rushing yards on 32 carries, but the Falcons struck first on the game’s opening possession.
JaCaryous Perriman started his first game under center for the Falcons, and his 51-yard touchdown connection to Maurice Moore made it 7-0 with 9:48 left in the first quarter.
However, the Maroons had an immediate answer, taking the ensuing kickoff down to the two yard line before Hightower’s short plunge tied the game.
It was all Madisonville all the time the rest of the way, with Hightower putting the Maroons in front 14-7 with a 17-yard scoring run with 6:29 left in the opening frame.
Hightower was in the endzone again just 46 seconds into the second quarter before quarterback Kanyon Johnson connected with Anias Mitchell for a 36-yard scoring strike with 3:40 left until the break.
The Maroons made it 35-7 just before halftime when Hightower hit pay dirt from five yards out, his fourth TD of the first half.
Perriman threw for 112 yards on eight of 18 attempts, and Keyshawn Dixon rushed for 24 yards on ten carries for the Falcons, but they never threatened to score after the opening touchdown.
Johnson did it himself for the Maroons with a three-yard TD run on their first possession after the break, but the extra-point attempt was blocked to deny Madisonville a running clock.
But Hightower wasn’t quite done, and his six-yard scoring run and a two-point conversion made it 49-7 with 3:10 left in the third quarter.
With the game decided, James-Michael Davis replaced Johnson at quarterback, and his 36-yard touchdown pass to Chris Hughes rounded out the scoring with 7:15 left in the game.
The Maroons totaled 20 first downs to the Falcons seven and accumulated 86 penalty yards on ten flags. Fort Campbell was penalized four times for 25 yards and threw a pair of interceptions.
The Falcons will hit the road next week to face Fort Knox in the Army Bowl. Fort Campbell won last season’s contest 22-6, snapping a two-game Eagles winning streak in the series.
