While there is still football season left for the Hopkinsville Tigers, another of the final chapters in program history was written at the Stadium of Champions Friday night as the Tigers played their final regular season game ever, hosting WEB DuBois. And, you could label this chapter as ‘Bradley Breaks It Open.’
James Bradley Jr. rushed for 175 yards and three touchdowns as the Tigers, and gave the visiting Lions a big old Halloween trick in the form of a 37-13 win. Bradley was especially troublesome for the Lions in the second half, when he picked up 119 yards and two scores.
The Lions came out and took the opening possession right down the field, primarily on the strength of the running of Rashad High. High capped off a 68-yard opening drive with a one-yard touchdown run to put WEB DuBois up 7-0 with 9:28 to go in the first.
The story of the early part of the game was the WEB DuBois defense, which did not give the Tigers much room to get their offense rolling. Hopkinsville went three-and-out on the opening possession with a -3 yards to show for their efforts.
The Hopkinsville defense returned the favor to the Lions on their second possession, forcing WEB DuBois to punt from their own 44-yard line.
The Tigers got an offensive boost from Jeremiah Smith on their second possession of the night. Smith had five carries to start the drive, and Bradley followed with four carries as the Tigers moved the ball from their 9-yard line to the WEB DuBois 20. But the drive bogged down, and the Tigers had incomplete passes on third and 4th down and turned the ball back over to the Lions.
Two plays into the WEB DuBois possession, we had the game’s first turnover of the night when Joveon Harris fumbled the ball away and Hopkinsville recovered at its own 42-yard line.
The Tiger offense, riding the back of James Bradley Jr., drove down the field on a long drive against the Lions for the second straight possession. This time, there was no bogging down in the red zone. James Bradley Jr. capped off an 11-play drive with a 3-yard touchdown run and then scored the two-point conversion as the Tigers took an 8-7 lead with 7:31 to go in the half.
Things got a little bumpy for both teams for the rest of the half. Hopkinsville’s Xzavion Panapa came up with a pick on the Lions’ next possession. The Tigers, however, could not convert and turned the ball over on downs.
WEB DuBois went three and out and had to punt. The Tigers took over and saw the Lions’ Diontae Bennett come up with an interception three plays later. The Lions were sacked by the Tiger defense on the opening play of the next drive and then decided to kill out the rest of the half as the Tigers took the 8-7 lead into the break.
The WEB DuBois defense had put the clamps on the Tiger offense in the opening half, giving up just 79 total yards, 62 on the ground and 17 through the air. Still, the Lions were on the short end of the stick for the first 24 minutes.
After giving up 68 yards on the opening drive of the game, the Hopkinsville defense gave up just 65 for the rest of the half. The Lions finished the half with 110 yards rushing and 23 yards passing.
The teams came out to start the second half and traded three-and-outs to begin the third quarter. On their second possession of the half, the Tigers moved the ball down to the WEB DuBois 33-yard line and got one of the big plays of the night. With Aiden Jesse on the fly, his defender slipped, and Jesse then reeled in the pass from Jasiah McCarley to extend the Tiger lead to 14-7 with 6:24 to go in the third. The extra point attempt was blocked.
With their backs now pressed to the wall, the Lions needed a response and came up with one. Starting at their own 33-yard line, the Lions got a strong effort from Rashad High and drove the ball down the field for the score. The 9-play drive was capped off by a four-yard run from High with 2:46 to go in the third. However, the extra point attempt was wide left, and Hopkinsville still had the lead at 14-13.
The Tigers took the next possession and did not waste any time finding the end zone again. By this time on a chilly Halloween night, James Bradley Jr. was starting to become the nightmare for the Lions as the big Tiger running back started getting things going downhill. Starting at their own 44, the Tigers got a 12-yard run from Bradley, which was boosted with a personal foul penalty on the Lions, which was an issue all night long for the team from Jefferson County.
Two plays after the penalty, James Bradley Jr. rambled for a 29-yard touchdown with 1:41 to go in the third. The two-point conversion failed, but the Tigers were now in front 20-13.
The Hopkinsville defense forced the Lions into another three-and-out, and it was James Bradley Jr.’s time again.
The Tigers took just 3 plays to go 72 yards, most of them coming on Bradley’s 45-yard touchdown run with 11:26 to go in the game as Hopkinsville stretched the lead out to 27-13.
A four-and-out from the Tiger defense, and the offense was ready to roll again. Taking over on the WEB DuBois 37, it took Hopkinsville just five plays to roll into the end zone. This time, it was a nine-yard run from Jeremiah Smith with 7:38 to go in the game that pushed the lead out to 34-13.
Hopkinsville added a 27-yard field goal inside the final seconds to get to the final margin.
The Tigers ended the night with 200 rushing yards and 85 passing yards.
WEB DuBois had 124 yards rushing and 56 yards through the air for 180 total yards, 68 of those coming on the opening possession of the game.
Hopkinsville now heads into the playoffs with a 6-4 record and, as the #2 seed in the district, will be back at the Stadium next week to take on the Daviess County Panthers in the opening round of the Class 6A playoffs.
The game will be the first meeting between the two programs since the Class 4A playoffs in 2000. Hopkinsville won that contest 37-7 on their way to a final four finish.
