The Hopkinsville Tigers failed to get out of first gear on Friday night in Murray, turning the ball over five times on the way to a surprising 14-7 loss to hosts Calloway County. The Tigers fall to the Lakers for the first time since 1994 and suffer their first defeat of the season ahead of a trip to Logan County next week. Calloway bounces back from a lopsided loss to Paducah Tilghman to improve to 2-1 on the year.
The Tigers got on the board in the closing seconds of the first quarter when Jayden Dillard found the endzone from four yards out, but the Lakers would even things up midway through the second quarter.
Calloway’s Drew Hudgin picked off a Trey Jefferson pass and returned it 24 yards to the Tigers’ goal line. Zach Orange did the rest, diving into the endzone on first down to pull the Lakers even with 5:15 left in the half.
A promising Hoptown drive in the third quarter reached the Calloway 18-yard line, but the Tigers came up empty after the Lakers recovered a fumble by Jefferson. Hopkinsville was in scoring position again after Jefferson hit Ryan Myers for a 14-yard completion to the Calloway 26, but another fumble would end the threat.
The Tiger offense continued to shoot itself in the foot when they followed an intentional grounding penalty with a snap over Jefferson’s head. Calloway again recovered and began the drive that would lead to the go-ahead touchdown.
On 4th and long inside the Hopkinsville 30, Laker quarterback Kanyon Franklin hit Hudgin for a 17-yard strike down to the Tiger 8-yard line. On 2nd and goal from the 8, Jaxon McKay found his way to the endzone for a 14-7 Calloway lead with 6:11 left to play.
After a kickoff return out to midfield, the Tigers took over looking for the tying touchdown. However, on 3rd and 17, Jefferson scrambled and again fumbled, with the Lakers falling on it with 4:07 left on the clock.
Calloway drove down to the Tiger 10-yard line before settling for a field goal attempt with seconds left. Hopkinsville blocked the kick and took over on their own 30 with 13 seconds to play. With time for one snap, Jefferson threw a screen to Reece Jesse, but he couldn’t shake free of the Laker defense, and time expired.
The Tigers had 161 yards of offense, including 109 on the ground. Dillard led the way with 58 yards on 17 carries with a score, followed by Jefferson with 11 rushes for 37 yards. He also threw for 52 yards on 5/12 attempts. Reece Jesse had 3 catches for 32 yards, and Myers pulled in one ball for 14 yards.
The Lakers posted 177 yards of offense, led by Orange with 20 carries for 92 yards and a touchdown. Franklin threw for 75 yards on 8 completions, finding Jacob Phillips three times for 25 yards. Keaton Elliot had two catches for 27 yards.
