The Hopkinsville Tigers came oh so close to giving new head coach Dustin Lopez a win in his first game as the new leader of the Tiger football program. Close, like chances to win the in the fourth quarter. Close, like coming down to the final minute of the game. But, games don’t go into the win column for just being close.
Greenwood came up with a stop on a two-point conversion 3:06 to go in the game and then got a huge first down inside the final minute from Cayden Schwarzkopf to finally close the door on the Tigers as Greenwood held on for a 34-32 win in the second game Friday night at Greenwood High School.
The game was back and forth from the beginning with big plays on both sides of the ball for both the Tigers and the Gators.
Greenwood took the opening kickoff and promptly drove 68 yards, capped off by a 1 yard touchdown run from Romello Meade to make it 6-0.
On their second possession, Greenwood turned the ball over via an interception, setting the Tigers up at their own three yard line. Then came the drive of the night for Hopkinsville.
Led by the punishing running style of Artavius Moses, the Tigers drove 97 yards, capped off by a 10 yard touchdown pass from Aiden King to Treston Kay. The two-point conversion put the Tigers up 8-6 with 3:32 to go before the half. After stopping the Gators, Hopkinsville got the ball back and did not waste anytime going right down the field.
Led by the arm of Aiden King, the Tigers moved 48 yards down the field and found paydirt when Aiden KIng hit Jaylen Ray for a 22 yard score, giving the Tigers a 14-6 lead at the break.
After Hoptown punted on its first possession of the second half, the Gators went on the march again. This time Meade ran it in from two yards out to bring Greenwood within 14-12.
A big kickoff return from Treston Kay got the Tigers back in business at the Greenwood 31. Four plays later, Aiden King hit Artavius Moses for a four-yard score, putting the Tigers in fron 20-12.
Back came Greenwood on the Gators’ next possession. Greenwood drove 51 yards and scored when Cayden Schwarzkopf found the end zone on a 12 yard scamper to even things up at 20-20 with 2:02 left in the third quarter.
The Tigers turned the ball over on downs on their next possession and that appeared to generate a big momentum swing in favor of the Gators.
Romello Meade ripped off a long run for Greenwood down to the Hopkinsville 12 yard line, The ball appeared to come loose at the end of the play but it was ruled that Meade had stepped out of bounds. In addition to the long run, the Hopkinsville bench was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after the play. The Gators took advantage as Cayden Schwarzkopf scored on a 6 yard run with 8:55 left in the game to give Greenwood a 27-20 lead.
But these Tigers would not go down without a fight. Hopkinsville went on an 11 play drive and found the end zone on a 10 yard touchdown run by Artavius Moses with 4:35 to go. However, the Tigers did not convert the 2-point try and found themselves trailing 27-26 with no timeouts.
The Gators in some fashion helped the Tigers on the very next play. Cayden Schwarzkopf scampered 55 yards for a touchdown with 4:24 left. The extra point kick moved the lead out to 34-26, but still keeping things within one possession.
Aiden King drove the Tigers down the field and hit Treston Kay with an 18 yard touchdown pass with 3:06 to go. But again the Tigers missed out on the two point conversion and still trailed 34-32.
Greenwood recovered the onside kick attempt that followed and worked to grind out the clock. Faced with a 4th down and 5 and the possibility the Tigers could get the ball back, Greenwood went back to the man of the night, Cayden Schwarzkopf, who promptly picked up the first down and sealed the win for the Gators.
Hopkinsville finished the night with 308 yards of total offense.
Aiden King was 10 of 18 through the air for 94 yards and three touchdowns.
The Tigers had 214 yards rushing, 131 of that coming in the second half of play. Artavius Moses led the Tiger ground attack with 100 yards on the night.
WIth the loss, Hoptown opens the season at 0-1. The Tigers play their home opener next Friday night against the Mayfield Cardinals.
