Four top 10 teams and a tough local rivalry later, the Hopkinsville Tigers know they’ve been through one of the mathematically most difficult football schedules in the Commonwealth.
But it still didn’t make Friday night’s 44-14 loss at McRight Field to budding Class 4A giant and district foe Paducah Tilghman much easier. After all, it was only a year ago when the orange and black rolled north and stunned the Blue Tornado in a terrific defensive battle.
Come back to now, and head coach Marc Clark, his staff and his team look a little different.
“It’s got to make us battle-tested,” Clark said. “You look at our season last year, and in the first six games, we were 2-4, and in our last six, we were 4-2. So, for us, the first half of the season is done. We have struggled. There’s extenuating circumstances, but nobody really cares. It doesn’t matter. We just have to keep competing. Keep fighting.
“And I think they stayed as a team tonight.”
First and foremost, the Tigers had to run the Wildcat formation for most of Friday’s contest — lining up converted junior wide receiver and defensive back Treston Kay at quarterback with Zach Moss out for the season and John Aiden King still on concussion protocol. Alongside him in the backfield: junior Artavius Moses and senior Darrius Green — two guys who also have been lining up in other spots.
Kay was effective in the running game: 13 carries, 59 yards and a gorgeous 47-yard counter for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter. Late in the third quarter, he had a sensational break for 20-plus yards up the right sideline, in which he avoided at least four tackles and nearly scored.
Tilghman, however, forced one of its three turnovers on the night on a punch-out from the backside. Kay was furious, but senior defensive back Ireal Leak calmed him, and walked with him back to the sideline.
“TK’s a warrior, man,” Clark said.
If there was anything Hopkinsville had considerable difficult with defensively, it was the efficiency of Tilghman junior quarterback Jack James.
He’d finish with 213 yards passing and five total touchdowns: four passing and one rushing. On the game’s opening drive, he went 5-for-6 — including a 27-yard strike on fourth-down-and-five to Banks LaFont at the back-left pylon.
On his second drive, he hit Memphis, Tennessee transfer and four-star prospect Martels Carter down the middle for a 50-yard gain, then found DJ Perry on a 7-yard back-shoulder fade for the 13-0 lead.
The lone mistake from James: a second quarter end-zone interception, in which Leak leapt up and ripped the ball for a takeaway.
“I thought Ireal played really well,” Clark said. “And last year, I thought he played tremendously in this game. And tonight, he played really, really well. All night, he played really, really well. It was a huge play for him. And I think, kind of to some extent, reminiscent of Daisjaun [Mercer’s] interception last year, going the same direction, but just on the other side of the field. And Ireal’s a good football player.”
Moss is also arguably the team’s best kicker and punter, too — so valuable in flipping field position and finding points at the end of stalled drives.
Hopkinsville couldn’t escape the shadow of its own end zone after Leak’s pick, and as such, smartly took a safety — rather than a kick-six or a blocked punt — to trail 16-0.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, Tilghman’s Jayden Morris took the ensuing free kickoff down to the Hopkinsville 3-yard line. James kept it on the next play for a 22-0 advantage, and a 15-yard rush from DJ Wilson and a 28-yard pass to Joshua Campbell closed out the Blue Tornado’s final two first-half drives for a 37-0 running-clock lead at the break.
Positive yardage was there for the Tigers in those opening two quarters, but finding first downs proved difficult, as they were a combined 3-for-14 on third and fourth down.
“I just told [TK] tonight, with the way that [PT’s] defense is, I think you’ve really got to tip your hat to their staff,” Clark added. “They want to spread you out, and use their speed to make you go sideline to sideline and create those negative plays. And we said if we’re going to attack them, you have to go downhill at them. While we’re not the biggest, we just challenged our guys to play that A-to-B gap run. And they did.
“But like I said, we showed some toughness and grit. But we’ve got to figure out how that toughness and grit can turn into points, and more success when the clock hits triple zeroes.”
EXTRA POINTS
— After Friday night, Hopkinsville’s first five opponents (Greenwood, 4-1; Christian County 1-3; Mayfield, 3-1; Clarksville, 5-0; Paducah Tilghman, 5-0) are a combined 18-4.
— Prior to the contest, James was honored by Paducah Tilghman officials as the school’s all-time career leader in passing touchdowns. He tied Hunter Cantwell’s record of 77 in the win against Mayfield, surpassed it in last week’s victory over Henderson County, and further extended it in Friday’s win over the Tigers. Still a half-season to play, the three-star signal-caller has multiple offers, and can put the record well out of reach in the next 18 months.
— Fifty years after winning a state title, Blue Tornado officials celebrated its 1973 players, team managers, coaches, drill corps members, band members, cheerleaders and families Friday night, courtesy of a halftime ceremony. Coached by Dan Haley, it’s a squad that defeated Madisonville 2-0 in the Class 2A regional title game: a safety from David Chatellier with 4:55 left on the clock making all the difference. They would beat Boyd County 27-8 to finish the year unbeaten. Haley would win “Coach of the Year,” through a statewide poll by the Lexington Herald-Leader.
— Stats updates: Leak’s interception was the team’s first of the year…Kay now has more than 220 yards rushing…Gavin Harton is now 6-for-7 on PATs.
PADUCAH TILGHMAN 44, HOPKINSVILLE 14
Tigers (0-5) 0 0 7 7 — 14
Blue Tornado (5-0) 14 23 7 0 — 44
SCORING
PT: Banks LaFont 26 pass from Jack James (Shep Esper PAT), 7-0, 8:25 1Q
PT: DJ Perry 7 pass from Jack James (Shep Esper PAT), 14-0, 6:32 1Q
PT: Safety, 16-0, 7:08 2Q
PT: Jack James 3 rush (Shep Esper PAT), 23-0, 6:03 2Q
PT: DJ Wilson 15 rush (Shep Esper PAT), 30-0, 4:19 2Q
PT: Jayden Morris 28 pass from Jack James (Shep Esper PAT), 37-0, 1:37 2Q
HOP: Darrius Green 5 rush (Gavin Harton PAT), 37-7, 6:25 3Q
PT: Joshua Campbell 28 pass from Jack James (Shep Esper PAT), 44-7, 4:42 3Q
HOP: Treston Kay 47 rush (Gavin Harton PAT), 44-14, 2:25 4Q
PASSING LEADERS
HOP: None. PT: Jack James 14-23-213-1-4.
RUSHING LEADERS
HOP: Darrius Green 13-70-1, Treston Kay 13-59-1, Artavius Moses 10-29. PT: DJ Wilson 8-48, Blair Sains 3-38, Jack James 1-3-1, Mason Copeland 2-15.
RECEIVING LEADERS
HOP: None. PT: Joshua Campbell 4-51-1, Jayden Morris 1-28-1, Banks LaFont 1-26-1, DJ Perry 1-7-1, Martels Carter 1-50, JoeAvion Starks 4-34, Shemari Thomas 1-11, DJ Wilson 1-6.
MISCELLANEOUS
First Downs: HOP 6, PT 14.
Third Downs: HOP 3/10, PT 2/6.
Fourth Downs: HOP 0/4, PT 0/2.
Penalties: HOP 4-50, PT 6-32.
Fumbles-Lost: HOP 4-2, PT 0-0.
Time Of Possession: HOP 29:48, PT 29:55.
