Hi! Here’s an expanded version of the Madisonville-North Hopkins football print game story that is also online at The Messenger website in a third incarnation. It really feels like Groundhog Day sometimes, rewriting these stories for different outlets. (There will be a fourth version up on the website of the News Enterprise of Elizabethtown with some quotes from their wonderfully named coach Craddock Jaggers.) Scoring summary and box score follow.
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North Hardin got the break it needed in the third quarter Friday night against Madisonville-North Hopkins when Maroon quarterback Tray Carr left the game because of dehydration after being tackled at the North Hardin 2-yard line.
But it didn’t happen soon enough.
Backup Maroon quarterback Danny DeMercurio came in and got the two final yards they needed, a touchdown that put the Maroons up for good in their 34-21 win at the Badgett Athletic Complex in Madisonville.
“We lost seven starters to injury tonight on top of the five we had lost before, so we were down 12 starters in the third quarter,” North coach Will Weaver said. “Our kids overcame adversity against a good football team.”
Carr left the game for a play in the drive before the DeMercurio-capped one, but got no down time after his ensuing punt, which was fumbled by the Trojans and recovered by Daylen Jones at the Hardin 10.
Carr’s run on second-and-goal got the Maroons down to the 2, but dehydration caught up to the senior and he had to leave the game. DeMercurio re-entered and fumbled the next snap, but quickly picked it up and had enough room to wedge his way into the end zone. The score broke a 21-21 tie and put North up 28-21 with 4:10 left to go in the third quarter.
With Carr’s exit, North (2-1) was also down a punter, which also turned special teams into an adventure for the Maroons. Backup Dean Summers shanked a punt 10 yards with 6 minutes, 20 seconds remaining in the game, giving the Trojans the ball at the Maroons’ 47. But the Maroon defense forced a fourth-and-14 at the 33 and quarterback Hunter Raj was sacked by Aaron Odum and Colyn Johnson to end the threat.
The Trojans started slow, as North’s Deonte Hines broke off a 48-yard run up the middle on the game’s first play from scrimmage. That set up a 2-yard TD run by Carr four plays later to quickly make it 7-0.
Carr accounted in some way for three TDs on the evening, with Summers the next beneficiary of his largesse, catching a 4-yard TD pass later in the quarter to make it 13-0. North Hardin responded with a TD jaunt of their own to cut the gap to 13-7.
On the next Maroon drive, however, Carr spied Cameron Tandy open deep down the left sideline. Tandy caught the pass at the Trojan 15 and cut inside, splitting two defenders, and then ran the rest of the way in to complete the 46-yard strike and make it 19-7. Carr and Jeremy Clark teamed up for the ensuing 2-point conversion.
A North fumble with 1:04 left until halftime proved costly, with North Hardin scoring with 34 seconds left on David Hickman’s 14-yard scamper. The Trojans got the ball to start the second half and running back Mike Brunson made his first appearance in the game. Brunson carried the ball five times on the drive, including one for 25 yards, before capping off the trek with a 6-yard TD run to tie it at 21-21 with 8:38 to go in the third.
Next up for North is a Friday trip to Hopkinsville.
North Hardin 0 14 7 0 21
Madisonville 13 8 7 6 34
Scoring summary
FIRST QUARTER
M — Tray Carr 2 run (Austin Collard kick), 10:12
M — Dean Summers 4 pass from Carr (kick blocked), 1:43
SECOND QUARTER
N — Mathew Brownell 30 pass from Hunter Raj (Tyler Vanderwege kick), 11:49
M — Cameron Tandy 46 pass from Carr (Jeremy Clark pass from Carr)
N — David Hickman 14 run (Vanderwege kick), :34
THIRD QUARTER
N — Mike Brunson 6 run (Vanderwege kick), 8:38
M — Danny DeMercurio 2 run (Collard kick), 4:10
FOURTH QUARTER
M — Clark 67 interception return, :00
N M
Yards Rush 192 183
Yards Pass 35 84
Total Yards 227 267
Passing 2-4-1 6-9-0
Fumbles/Lost 0-0 5-2
Rushing: NORTH HARDIN — Antonio Jackson 6-83, Mike Brunson 10-52, David Hickman 6-50, Mathew Brownell 21-45, Jarrod Williams 2-3, Hunter Raj 6-(-41). MADISONVILLE — Tray Carr 16-105, Deonte Hines 7-79, Cameron Tandy 13-26, Alex Gray 2-5, Jawan Combs 1-(-3), Dean Summers 1-(-9), Danny DeMercurio 2-(-20).
Passing: NORTH HARDIN — Raj 2-4-1 35 yards. MADISONVILLE — Carr 5-8-0 87 yards, DeMercurio 1-1-0 -3 yards
RECEIVING: NORTH HARDIN — Brownell 1-30, Dervin White 1-5. MADISONVILLE — Tandy 3-55, Hines 1-27, Summers 1-4, Combs 1-(-2)