HOPKINSVILLE – Marshall County played their final football game of the 2015 season Friday at Hopkinsville against the Class 4A #6 ranked Tigers. Coming into Friday’s game, Hopkinsville had just one loss to Christian County and in their eight wins, have out-scored their opponents 328 to 63.
Four turnovers by the Marshals led to four Hopkinsville touchdowns which contributed in large part to Hopkinsville’s winning deficit defeating the Marshals 62-17.
Coach Evan Merrick in post-game comments said he thought his team played with a little more intensity this week but made some untimely mistakes that led to more points for Hopkinsville and a broader margin of victory.
“I think part of that is because we took chances too”, Merrick said. “We wanted to give ourselves the best chance we could to execute. They’re a good football team and they’re going to make a deep run, just like some of the other teams we played this year.”
After the Marshals received the opening kick, they turned the ball over on downs to Hopkinsville who put their first points on the board on a six yard run by Stephen Cager following a 44-yard drive.
Hopkinsville would score three more times in the first quarter, two on Marshall County turnovers to lead 27-0 and opened the second quarter on a 21 yard touchdown run by the quarterback to lead 34-0.
The Marshals first drive of the second quarter resulted in a 40-yard field goal by Daniel Gardner and would score again after a fumble recovery by Jacob Mason which put the Marshals on their own 40 yard line. The drive culminated in a nice pass from Skyler Smith to Lucas Forsythe to the three yard line with Smith taking the ball in from the one, now trailing 34-10.
Hopkinsville scored once more in the first half and on the Marshals final drive, a field goal attempt failed going into the locker room trailing 41-10.
The Marshals opened the second half by recovering their own kick-off which set them up with great field position at the Hopkinsville 26 yard line, but an interception quickly ended the drive when Dontarius Parker returned it 82 yards for another Hopkinsville touchdown.
The Marshals scored late in the third quarter on a 62 yard drive that included three penalties on Hopkinsville- unsportsmanlike, pass interference and a facemask, getting the touchdown on a four yard pass to Forsythe.
Hopkinsville finished out the game with two more touchdowns by Johnson on a 33-yard run and Cager on a 34-yard run for the 62-17 win.
Hopkinsville celebrated Senior Night before the game with special recognition for senior Jayvon Quarles who passed away before the season began during practice when hit by a piece of football equipment. The Tigers fittingly ended their regular season with his younger brother Dee Quarles, taking a knee in the final play of the game.
In his post-game comments to the team, Coach Merrick said, “this isn’t the spot we want to be in and we’re going to work our way out in the off-season.”
Coach Merrick talked about his seniors who have been through a coaching transition and had some ups and downs saying, “At the end of the night, this is a life lesson. It’s not always going to work out the way you want it to, but it’s how you’re going to handle adversity, how you’re going to fight through things.”
“In this game you’re judged by wins and losses but there’s a lot of things they can take from this moving forward and I hope they can do that.”
“We’re going to put a plan together in this off-season and put ourselves back on the right track to make Marshall County football what it should be.”
Total Offensive Yards
Marshall: 175, (rushing 68, passing 107)
Hopkinsville: 355, (rushing 144, passing 211)
Rushing Leaders
Marshall: Green 13/34, Lampley 14/30
Hopkinsville: Johnson 5/72 (2 TDs), Cager 2/40 (2 TDs), Dillard 6/32 (TD)
Passing
Marshall: Smith 8/17 (107 yds, 1 TD, 2 Int.)
Hopkinsville: Johnson 12/23 (211 yds, 3 TDs)
Passing Leaders
Marshall: Forsythe 4/82 (TD), Prange 2/11
Hopkinsville: Cager 3/82, Green 5/72, Henangan 4/57