Hopkins County Central recorded five takeaways while ending a four-game skid Friday night at Webster County.
Isac Earl had four touchdowns and an interception as the Storm pulled away for a 38-0 victory in Class 3A 1st District action in Dixon.
Sylas Gunn and Earl hooked up three times on long touchdown passes — including both Hopkins Central scores in the first half.
The pair connected for a 51-yard TD for the first score of the night with 3:31 left in the first quarter.
A Ronald Banks fumble recovery at the Webster 41 set up Hopkins Central’s next score. Again, it was Gunn-to-Earl, this time covering 40 yards. That came with 4:48 left in the second period and helped send the Storm to halftime with a 12-0 advantage.
Hopkins Central (2-5 overall, 1-1 district) added to its lead just 2:45 into the second half when Issac McKnight returned a fumble 38 yards for a score. A two-point pass fell incomplete, but the Storm held an 18-0 margin.
Gunn and Earl got together again later in the period. The touchdown covered 48 yards. Again, a two-point pass failed, but Hopkins Central led 24-0 with 2:14 remaining in the third quarter.
Kamran Harrison was a workhorse out of the backfield all night and got into the scoring column on a 30-yard TD run with 11:52 left in the game. Jude Mitchell kicked the point-after to extend the margin to 31-0.
Webster (1-7, 0-2) had its best scoring opportunity on the next drive. The Trojans faced 4th-and-goal at the 1, but quarterback Hayden Wright was sacked to end the threat.
Hopkins Central tacked on one final score with just 2:28 to play. Earl picked the ball up off the ground when a snap got away from Gunn. Earl then went 46 yards to paydirt. Mitchell again kicked the PAT to make it 38-0.
The Storm’s five takeaways in the contest equaled its total through the first six games of the season.
Hopkins Central faces a huge district test next week when it visits Murray. The Tigers are 8-0 after beating Union County 44-7 on Friday.
Barring an upset, Hopkins Central looks to be a No. 3 seed going into the playoffs. That means the Storm is likely headed to Hart County or LaRue County in the first round of the playoffs. Hart and LaRue meet next week in Munfordville, with the winner looking like the No. 2 seed from the other district.
