It was a night full of firsts for the Hopkins County Central football program Friday night against Todd County Central. Hopkins Central got their first win of the 2026 season on the first game on their new artificial turf field and it was Adrian Stringer’s first win as a head coach with his alma mater as the Storm blew out the Rebels 66-18.
“It feels great (to get the first win),” Stringer said. “I’ve got a great group of guys with me, great group of coaches and it was a great win on the new field.”
The field was prepped just in time for Friday’s game as workers completed the process of spreading the sand infill in the turf a half hour before kickoff. Todd County was warming up on the softball field while Central was on the soccer field before the teams were allowed to get on the turf.
When the ball was kicked, Hopkins Central little time getting on the scoreboard as Storm quarterback Neilan Bruce found Isaac McKnight for a 49-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage. After Todd County responded with a touchdown of their own, Jacob Matheny returned the kickoff down the field but was just short of taking it to the house as he was brought down to the 1-yard line. One of a few big plays Matheny was a part of, including an interception on the defensive side of the ball and juking around three Rebels on the return to the 7-yard line, and he returned a kickoff for a touchdown to close out the first half to give Central a 40-18 lead at the break.
“I just love this sport, love my teammates,” Matheny said about his performance Friday night. “We come out here and play, it’s what we do.”
The Storm defense stepped up in the second half shutting out Todd County in the final 24 minutes of play while the offense got the running clock started in the third quarter. Even Bruce was getting in on the scoring himself, running into the endzone three times for the game.
“As a coach the takeaways are still the mistakes,” Stringer said. “We didn’t close out the first half as well as I would’ve liked and we’ve got some stuff to clean up on defense, but overall the guys did great (Friday). We have to learn to take control early and run with it.”
Even after celebrating the win, Stringer and the Storm were focused on the game they all have circled next week, which is against crosstown rival Madisonville North Hopkins. The last time Central defeated North on the gridiron was in 2020 with Stringer at quarterback for the Storm.
“It’s another game and we’re going to prepare like any other game,” Stringer said. “It’s a big game, but if we level our heads it’s just another game. We’re going to prepare and try to come out with a win.”
Next week’s game is at Madisonville North Hopkins. Meanwhile, Todd County Central will be at Butler County for week 3 of the 2026 season.
