With the possibility of bad weather in the air and occasional lightning in the distance, it felt like a night that could involve some ‘stormy’ activity. For the Fort Campbell Falcons, it was not the storm in the air that was the problem, it was the Storm on the ground that was a much bigger problem.
Hopkins County Central used a ‘thundering’ ground attack on offense and came up with four turnovers on defense as the Storm took a 41-20 win over the Falcons on post Friday night.
The Storm rushed the ball for 280 yards, much of that coming thanks to a star performance from running back Dallas Kinlaw.
The Falcons did not help their own cause any with four turnovers and three trips deep into Hopkins Central’s end of the field that produced zero points.
Things started off promisingly for the Falcons, who scored on their first possession of the night when Hayden Wise hit Levi Kruse with a 16 yard touchdown pass that put Fort Campbell up 7-0 with 9:29 to go in the first.
Hopkins Central got on the board in the second quarter on a three yard touchdown from Dallas Kinlaw, tying the game at 7-7 with 9:39 to go in the half. The Storm took the lead later in the quarter when Neilan Bruce threw a 12 yard touchdown pass to Issac McKnight, making it 14-7.
The Falcons tied the game on the ensuing kickoff when Levi Kruse returned the kickoff 88 yards for a score with 3:47 to go in the half.
Hopkins Central took its opening possession of the second half when Dallas Kinlaw ran it in from one yard out to make it 20-14 with 9:39 to go in the third. That turned out to be the only score of the quarter.
Fourth quarter turnovers from the Falcons then opened the door for the Storm to put the game away. A 39 yard run from Neilan Bruce, a 9 yard run from Sawyer Allen, and a 4 yard run from James Massey came within a seven minute span that turned a six point game into a 41-14 Hopkins Central lead.
The Falcons added a late score on a 28 yard pass from Hayden Wise to Brody Dunn.
For the night, Hopkins Central outgained Fort Campbell 342 to 323. The Storm had 62 yard passing and 280 yards rushing. The Falcons ended up with 116 yards passing and 207 rushing.
Dallas Kinlaw led the Storm with 148 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Sawyer Allen had 85 yards and one score. For the Falcons, Hayden Wise rushed for 81 yards and Khardai Smith had 80.
Through the air, Hayden Wise was 6-13-1 for Fort Campbell with 116 yards. Three of those passes were caught by Levi Kruse for 71 yards.
