After leading most of the night, it was just a brutally tough way for the Hopkinsville Tigers to lose Friday night at the Stadium of Champions. Logan County’s Davin Yates flared out a pass to running back Wyatt Blake, who then took it 42 yards to the end zone with 1:15 left to go in the game as the Cougars upended the Tigers 13-12 in a key district matchup.
It was one of those games where you felt like the Tigers had won it until you looked up at the scoreboard after the final horn only to realize that Logan County was leaving the stadium with the win.
Even after the winning touchdown, the Cougars still had to hang on tight. There was a questionable decision to squib the ensuing kickoff, which gave Hopkinsville the ball on the Logan side of the 50-yard line. Then, after it appeared the Cougars had blocked Zach Moss’s 47-yard field goal as time expired, it turned out that there had been an inadvertent whistle, which gave the Tigers one final chance with no time left on the clock.
Moss’s second try at the long field goal was well off the mark, as the Cougars were finally able to exhale with the win.
Hopkinsville will look back and wonder “what if” on this tough district loss. The Tigers had two long drives, one in each half, that took up more than six minutes each, that resulted in no points. One was stopped on downs at the Logan County 20. The other ended when the Tigers fumbled the ball away at the Cougar 10 yard line.
There were also miscues at key times. Two big ones in the final moments were especially backbreaking. On the game-winning drive for Logan County, Hopkinsville appeared to have the Cougars facing a long 4th down, but the Tigers were flagged for a 15-yard penalty. Then, as they were moving the ball down the field trying to set up for a game-winning field goal, the Tigers lost 10 yards on a play where they recovered their own fumble.
The night started off promisingly enough for Hoptown. After forcing Logan County to go three and out on their opening possession. The Tigers went on a 5-play, 55-yard scoring drive that was capped off by a 7-yard touchdown from Emmanuel Cheatham that put the Tigers up 6-0. The big play on the drive was a 40-yard pass from Treyvon Jefferson to K.C. Cabiness.
Logan County responded on the ensuing possession. Taking the ball 68 yards on ten plays. The drive was capped off by a 2-yard run from Wyatt Blake, giving the Cougars a 7-6 lead with 3:44 to go in the opening quarter.
A Logan County mistake gave the Tigers the chance to get the lead back late in the first half, and the Tigers took full advantage. Three plays after the fumble, Treyvon Jefferson rambled 12 yards for the score. The Tigers again failed to convert the extra point, leaving them a 12-7 lead going into the break. The two missed conversions would loom large at the end of the contest.
With starting running back Jayden Dillard unavailable, the Tigers had trouble getting their ground game on track, rushing for just 69 yards in the contest. Treyvon Jefferson ended up 16-25 through the air for 189 yards.
The loss drops the Tigers to 2-4 overall and 0-1 in the district. Hoptown will now face a huge district road game next Friday night as they travel to take on Madisonville-North Hopkins.
There was a bit of celebration Friday night for the Hopkinsville football program. Coach Craig Clayton was recognized for recently picking up his 300th coaching win during a ceremony at halftime.
