This one had every chance to get away from the Hopkins County Central Storm but somehow they found a way to fight on through. The Storm survived a late-game interception that stopped a game-winning drive, a Fort Campbell touchdown in the final two minutes, a bad snap on a punt in the final minute, and a last-gasp pass from the Falcons into the end zone that would have won the game for Fort Campbell.
The Storm ‘weathered’ all of that and came away with a heart-stopping 34-32 win on Homecoming Night Friday at Mortons Gap.
Isac Earl three for three touchdowns and ran for two others in leading the Falcons to the win. Two of the touchdown passes were caught by Isaac Manning before he left the game in the second half with a shoulder injury.
Hopkins County Central took the opening kickoff and drove down the field, scoring on a one yard run by Isac Earl to go up 7-0 with 7:30 to go in the first.
The Falcons returned the favor on their first possession of the night, going right down the field to score. J.P. Perryman’s 15 yard pass to Leaf Dewitt cut the lead to 7-6 with 5:18 to go in the first. The extra point attempt was blocked and that failed conversion would be part of a trend that would cost the Falcons dearly over the course of the night.
The Storm very nearly delivered a knockout shot early in the second quarter. Isac Earl found Isaac Manning for a 28 yard touchdown on the first play of the second quarter to make it 14-6. Fort Campbell then fumbled the ensuing kickoff, putting Hopkins County Central back in business. And it did not take the Storm very long to make the Falcons pay for the miscue.
Isac Earl found Carter Edwards for a 26 yard touchdown pass just over a minute later and the Hopkins County Central lead was 21-6.
The Falcons got back in the game with a quick scoring drive of their own. J.P. Perryman ripped off a 19 yard run with 9:37 left in the half, cutting the lead to 21-12.
A Hopkins County Central mistake right before the half set up another Falcon score. The Storm mishandled a punt giving Fort Campbell the ball at the seven yard line. The Falcons overcame two penalties that set them up with a first and goal at the 33 and got in the end zone when Jaeden Carolina recovered a fumble in the end zone to make it 21-18 with 45 seconds left in the half.
Midway through the third quarter, Isac Earl and Isaac Manning hooked up again, this time for a 43 yard score that made it 27-18.
Later in the quarter, Keshawn Dixon ran it in from 17 yards out. J.P, Perryman’s 2-point conversion run brought the Falcons to within 27-26 with 1:51 left in the third.
Isac Earl’s second touchdown run of the night, this one from two yards out, pushed the Hopkins County Central lead back out to 34-26 with 9:49 left in the game. And if you thought there had been action to this point in the game, it was time to buckle your seatbelt.
Inside the final four minutes, the Storm appeared to be marching for a game-sealing touchdown. However, J.P. Perryman picked off Isac Earl inside the 20 yard line and ran it back into Storm territory. Moments later, Keshawn Dixon scored from 5 yards out to cut the lead to 34-32. After a holding penalty set them back 10 yards, the Falcons had to go for the two-point conversion from the 13 yard line. That attempt failed leaving a two-point margin for the Storm.
Fort Campbell’s defense was able to come up with a stop and force the Storm into a punt with less than a minute to go. Hopkins County Central mishandled the snap process and the Falcons took over at the 25 yard line. The game then game down to a 4th down pass which was incomplete int the end zone with 12 seconds left and finally the Storm’s Homecoming Night crowd could take a breath.
The two teams racked up the yardage, combining for nearly 900 yards on the night, 515 yards for Hopkins County Central and 383 yards for the Falcons. The Storm had 280 yards rushing and 23 yards passing. Fort Campbell ended up with 189 yards rushing and 194 yards passing.
Hopkins County Central’s Isac Earl was 12-18-2 for 235 yards and 3 TDs. Isaac Manning caught 4 passes for 116 yards and two scores. On the ground Zayden Parker had 152 yards while Sylas Gunn had 87 yards. Isac Earl rushed for 61 yards and a couple of scores.
Fort Campbell’s J.P. Perryman was 14-25-0 for 194 yards and a touchdown. Torrance Dixon caught 7 of the passes for 80 yards. Keyshawn Dixon had a big night on the ground, rushing for 126 yards and two touchdowns.
Penalties were a problem for both teams. The Storm was penalized 15 times for 143 yards, while Fort Campbell was flagged 9 times for 100 yards.
Hopkins County Central improves to 1-1 and now gets ready for a big road test next week against the Madisonville-North Hopkins Maroons.
Fort Campbell drops to 0-2. The Falcons go on the road next Friday night to take on the Trigg County Wildcats.
