Madisonville-North Hopkins football coach Chris Price got the chance to celebrate his birthday in style Friday night. His Maroons wrapped up the regular season by manhandling the Murray Tigers 41-3 in front of a Senior Night home crowd.
The Maroon defense was at its peak, allowing the Murray offense just a second quarter field goal and locking down one of the best receivers in Western Kentucky, that being the Tigers’ Jeremiah Jones, who never was a factor in the contest. It was the first time that Murray had been limited to fewer than 17 points this season.
Meanwhile, the Maroon offense, after being shut out in the first quarter, put up 41 points over the next 36 minutes of the game. Senior quarterback Kanyon Johnson put on a show in his final home football game. Johnson ran for three touchdowns and passed for two more.
For the game, Johnson rushed for 82 yards and was 7 of 14 through the air for 146 yards.
Murray’s defense did a decent job on containing Markezz Hightower, limiting him to 61 yards rushing.
Defense was the story of the opening quarter as neither team was able to put points on the scoreboard. The Maroons finally broke through with 10:29 to go in the second when Kanyon Johnson found Jayden Travis for a 29 yard score to make it 7-0.
Murray cut the lead to 7-3 on a 26 yard field goal from Hank Fronza with 3:51 to go in the half.
The Maroons drove down the field in the waning moments of the half and found the end zone again when Kanyon Johnson ran it it from six yards out with 29 seconds left in the half to push the lead out to 14-3.
Murray got the ball to open the second half but the possession was short-lived. Kanyon Johnson, who had the task of covering Jeremiah Jones most of the night, came up with an interception to give the Maroons the ball at midfield.
Madisonville-North Hopkins made the Tigers pay for the mistake, driving down the field for the score. Kanyon Johnson capped off the drive with a 28 yard touchdown run to make it 21-3 with 6:49 to go in the third.
Less than a minute later, Murray quarterback Wyatt Robbins threw his second pick of the second half, this one intercepted by Kirk LaGrange. Four plays later, Kanyon Johnson scored again on a four yard touchdown run, and the lead was 28-3 and the rout was on.
After the teams traded punts, things went from bad to worse for the Tigers. Madisonville’s Louie Ampry picked off Robbins early in the 4th quarter and ran it back 82 yards and the lead grew to 35-3.
The Maroons got the game to running clock with 5:36 to go in the game as Kanyon Johnson threw his second touchdown pass of the night, this one a 24 yard score to close out the scoring at 41-3.
The Maroons end the regular season at 7-3 and now get ready to begin the Class 5A playoffs next Friday night on the road at Bowling Green. The Purples finished the season at 8-2 with a 26-9 win Friday night at St. Xavier.
