When the Hopkinsville Tigers opened the season 1-6, most would not have thought much about the Tigers chances for reaching the second round of the playoffs. Now, Hopkinsville may just be one of those teams that no one wants to play in November.
The Tigers used stifling “D” and the play of senior Mitchell Degenhardt to knock off Warren East 21-7 Friday night in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs on the Raiders home blue turf. Both teams looked a little nervous early, as the Tigers fumbled the ball away on their first possession, with the Raiders returning the favor by throwing a pick the first time they had the ball.
Neither team got anything going the second time they had the ball, with both teams going three and out. Both teams struggled to find their offensive footing, with the first quarter ending in a scoreless tie.
The Tigers were able to break the ice first, when Jay Bland connected with Degenhardt for a 38-yard touchdown pass to put Hopkinsville in front 7-0, with 6:17 to go in the first half. The next Warren East possession the Tiger defense stepped up again, getting another interception. However, the Tigers failed to take advantage, fumbling the ball back to the Raiders.
The game stayed at 7-0 until 1:07 to go in the half, when Bland and Degenhardt connected again, this time for a 24-yard score, to send Hoptown to the break with a 14-0 lead.
After the break, each team began the third quarter with a three and out, as the defenses took over once again. Right before the end of the 3rd quarter, the Tigers came up with their third interception of the night, which left Hopkinsville in the Warren East red zone as the quarter ended.
Degenhardt scored his third touchdown of the night, this time on the ground from two yards out, with 10:06 to go in the game. Warren East tried to battle back, and scored their only touchdown of the night with 6:23 to go in the game when freshman quarterback Nolan Ford scored on a one yard run to cut the Hopkinsville lead to 21-7. The Hopkinsville defense then clamped down on the Raiders for the rest of the game to seal the victory.
The win, which is the 4th in a row for Hopkinsville, improves the Tigers to 5-6 on the season. They will now move on to the second round of the playoffs to face Logan County. The Cougars beat the Tigers 13-12 on the very last play of the game back on October 5.
