Rivalry games are quite often intense and sometimes things get a little bit chippy. That was certainly the case as the Madisonville-North Hopkins Maroons and the Hopkins County Central Storm got together on the football field Friday night.
Markezz Hightower and Kanyon Johnson combined for more than 300 yards rushing and five touchdowns as the Maroons dispatched the Storm 59-6.
As for the intensity and chippiness, there were several instances of offsetting personal foul and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. The emotions overflowed on a couple of occasions. The first of those coming with 7:49 to go in the first half.
After a short touchdown run from Gavin Noffsinger, there were extracirriculars that lead to the ejection of one Maroon player. The teams were sent to the sidelines with the coaches called to meet with the officials in the end zone. After that meeting, each coaching staff met with their teams before play resumed.
Later in the first half, tempers flared again. Kanyon Johnson scored on a 16 yard touchdown run with Markezz Hightower adding the two point conversion to make it 45-6. After the conversion, there was some pushing and shoving down near the goalline resulting in several flags being thrown.
With the running clock coming into play and the second half playing out quickly, things did calm down quite a bit after the teams spent some time in the locker room at the half.
The early part of the game was the Markezz Hightower show. The junior running back scored three times in the first eight minutes of the game. Hightower scored on a one yard run, an 8 yard run, and on a 41 yard run as the Maroons hung 22 points on the board in the first 8 minutes.
The only temporary respite during that stretch for the Storm was after the first Hightower touchdown when Sylas Gunn ripped off an 80 yard touchdown run that tied the game for a brief moment at 6 to 6.
Kanyon Johnson then got in on the fun in the second quarter. After Noffsinger’s touchdown made it 29-6, and after a Storm turnover, Johnson scored on a 34 yard scamper to run the lead out to 37-6 with 6:38 left in the opening half. Johnson scored his second touchdown of the quarter on a 16-yard run with 4:19 to go in the half making it a 45-6 lead at the break.
The Maroons kept their foot on the gas pedal as the second half got started. Kanyon Johnson hooked up with Evan Wilson for a 14 yard score, pushing the lead to 53-6. Following a three and out for Hopkins County Central, Kanyon Johnson connected with Louie Amprey for the final touchdown of the game, making the score 59-6.
The Maroon defense was smothering against the Storm offense. Hopkins County Central ran the ball 14 times for just 6 yards. Hopkins Central quarterback Isac Earl was 5 of 17 through the air for 61 yards with one interception. Sylas Gunn caught three of the passes for 44 yards.
In addition to the interception, the Storm also coughed the ball up twice by fumble.
For the night, the Storm had just 67 yards of total offense.
Madisonville ran the ball 19 times for 313 yards. Kanyon Johnson was 7 of 14 passing the ball for 80 yards.
Markezz Hightower ended up with 10 carries for 169 yards and three touchdowns. Kanyon Johnson had 9 carries for 149 yards and two touchdowns. Johnson also passed for a score.
Madisonville-North Hopkins improves to 3-0 and now gets ready to go on the road to Fort Campbell next week.
Hopkins County Central falls to 1-2. The Storm will host Crittenden County next Friday night.
One Response
You clearly didn’t attend the game. Soccer, money, and status, have absolutely nothing to do with football or that game. It’s the people with your mindset that have allowed the south end to fall. Central has great athletes and always have, but the parents and supporters make up excuses about why they get beat, instead of pushing them to get better outside of practice time. It’s a shame.