Plagued by turnovers and penalties and trailing 22-8 to Henderson County early on Friday at the Stadium of Champions, the Hopkinsville Tigers used a safety to ignite a 17-point run and take a three-point edge into halftime on the way to a 31-29 victory that snaps a three-game skid.
A fumble and two turnovers on bad snaps put the Tigers in an early hole, with Henderson taking advantage to the tune of 22 points. After Hopkinsville opened the scoring on a touchdown pass from Jasiah McCarley to Aiden Jesse, Brody Belt answered with a 17-yard scoring run to get the Colonels on the scoreboard.
Christian Haygan picked up a Tiger fumble and returned it to the Hoptown 22 to set up Belt’s TD pass to Avant Baxter and give Henderson its first lead. Less than a minute later, Jack Dalton recovered the ball after another Tiger miscue and returned it to the 8-yard line before running around the left side on 2nd and goal for a 22-8 Colonel advantage after one quarter.
However, after McCarley’s punt pinned Henderson County inside its own 1-yard line early in the second quarter, the Tigers forced a safety to make it 22-10. James Bradley, Jr. returned the ensuing punt for a TD and added a two-point conversion to pull Hopkinsville to within four points.
Jordan Duerson’s interception gave the Tigers the ball back at the Henderson 37, and a 55-yard reception by Jesse down the the 2-yard line set up Bradley, Jr.’s TD run for a 25-22 advantage with 4:34 left in the half. Hopkinsville scored 17 points in only two minutes and 27 seconds to take a three-point edge into the break.
Hopkinsville added the only points of the third quarter on Bradley, Jr.’s three-yard TD plunge to lead 31-22 with a quarter to play. The teams exchanged interceptions to start the fourth, with Foster Jackson stepping in front of a pass to pin Henderson deep in its own end before Baxter returned the favor to keep the Tigers out of the end zone.
Dalton capped a Henderson drive with a three-yard TD run to cut the margin to two with 7:19 left, but those would be the final points of the game. Hopkinsville’s Kaden Humphrey appeared to have a game-ending interception, but it was knocked loose and instead fell to Henderson’s Jack Ryan Reusch for a gain into Tiger territory with just over three minutes to play.
But after a Hoptown sack to force a fumble that the Colonels recovered at their own 21, Jayon Bass picked off a pass with 2:19 left to close the door on Henderson.
Hopkinsville improved to 4-4 ahead of the final meeting with crosstown rivals Christian County next week. The Tigers will be hoping for a Henderson win over McCracken County that could hand them the district’s top seed.
Both teams picked up 17 1st downs and turned the ball over five times. Bradley, Jr. rushed for 82 yards on 28 attempts for the Tigers, and Jesse hauled in five passes for 104 yards. McCarley completed 12 of 25 passing attempts for 194 yards. Hopkinsville overcame 12 penalties for 94 yards.
Henderson County outgained the Tigers 267 to 235, including 178 yards on the ground. The Colonels slipped to 4-4 with their second loss in three weeks.
