The Hopkinsville Tigers opened up their final football season with a resounding thumping of Stratford, Tenn., 49-13, Friday night at the Stadium of Champions.
Behind an offensive line that dominated the line of scrimmage all night, Hoptown quarterback James Bradley Jr., ran for 195 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries. The Tigers’ offense rolled up 306 rushing yards on 47 carries.
Bradley Jr., also was deadly in the air as the senior threw for 126 yards and two touchdowns. Both scores went to senior wide receiver Aiden Jesse, who hauled in three catches for 92 yards.
Kyrien Cannon and Deandre Watkins also had rushing touchdowns for the Tigers, who won their opening game of the season for the first time since beating Henderson County 27-16 in 2020.
The teams were tied 7-7 after one quarter but the Tigers pushed their lead to 21-7 with 2:06 to go in the first half on a 7-yard run by Watkins and an 8-yard run by Bradley, Jr.
The Spartans threatened to make it a game as Anton Wilson threw a 57-yard scoring pass to Jaxsyn Law with 10:06 to go in the third. The extra point was blocked leaving the score 21-13.
It was Tiger domination from there as the defense intercepted Wilson twice and forced a fumble in the second half. The Spartans’ signal caller was picked off three times on the night. Jayon Bass, Carlo Jones, and Jesse had interceptions on the night for Hoptown.
Meanwhile the offense produced scoring drives of 65, 64, 65, and 8 yards to push the lead to 49-13 and start the running clock with 9:38 to play in the game.
The Tigers outgained the Spartans 460-187. Bradley, Jr., was 6-of-12 passing for 126 yards and two scores.
Hopkinsville returns to action next Friday night at Madisonville-North Hopkins, which routed Union County 49-13 on Friday night. Airtime for next Friday’s game is set for 6:30 p.m. on Newsradio 99.3 FM and 1230 AM WHOP.
Photos by Danny Vowell