After previously dropping twelve of fifteen matchups with their crosstown rivals, the Hopkinsville Tigers have now won the last three meetings with Christian County after a 38-0 win at the Stadium of Champions on Friday.
Hoptown’s Daisjaun Mercer lit up the 55th meeting between the programs with three touchdowns and an interception, giving the Tigers their second win in three games to improve to 2-3 on the year.
The Tigers took the lead inside the first three minutes of the game when Treyvon Jefferson hit Mercer for a 51-yard touchdown. Emmanuel Cheatham then doubled the advantage just over three minutes later with a 29-yard scoring run.
The Tigers threatened to add a third score in the opening quarter, but on 4th and 2 from the County 9-yard line, the Colonels forced a turnover on downs.
With the Colonels punting on 4th and 17 from their 25, Mercer took the punt back 59 yards for a score, but the play was wiped off due to a block in the back.
Mercer had another touchdown nullified when his 16-yard catch was brought back for a false start with four minutes left in the half. Instead, Zach Moss nailed a 38-yard field goal to give the Tigers a 17-0 advantage at the break.
Hopkinsville did the rest of the damage in the third quarter, with Mercer instrumental once again. He intercepted Christian County’s Jordan Miles on 3rd and 9 from the Hoptown 26, returning it 20 yards to near midfield.
Jefferson hit Mercer on a slant and he took it 43 yards to the County 3, before Cheatham finished it off with a scoring run for a 24-0 score with 7:34 left in the quarter.
Mercer continued to dominate proceedings, twice finding the endzone in the final five minutes of the third quarter. With the Colonels punting from their own 29-yard line, Mercer took it back 62 yards for a 31-0 lead. He added the finishing touches as the clock expired, taking a screen pass from Jefferson and scooting 36 yards to trigger the running clock at 38-0.
Jefferson finished 5/8 for 205 yards and two scores, with Mercer accounting for all of it. Jayden Dillard did the work on the ground for the Tigers, rushing for 122 yards on 14 carries. Moss completed one of three passing attempts, hitting Cheatham for 11 yards. Cheatham also had eight carries for 56 yards, including a pair of touchdowns.
Xzavier Quarles was a bright spot for the Colonels, rushing 14 times for 50 yards and making three catches for 18. Miles was 7/19 through the air for 50 yards with two interceptions. Jalen Peters made one catch for 21 yards.
Hopkinsville finished with 17 1st downs to Christian County’s 9. The Tigers had a balanced attack with 216 yards passing and 213 on the ground.
The Colonels totaled 88 yards of offense on 49 plays. Hopkinsville ran 46 plays for 429 yards.
Christian County slips to 1-4 and will look to regroup ahead of a trip to Murray High next week.
The Tigers will welcome Logan County to the Stadium of Champions on Friday. Last season they avenged a regular-season loss to the Cougars with a 42-20 playoff victory in a run to the state semifinals.
