Defense leads Tigers to victory

Hardin County jumped in front by a score of 14-0 in the first two quarters and never trailed the rest of the way in their 24-7 victory over Lexington on Friday night. The Tigers defense came up big in the game, holding their opponent to only 58 yards of total offense on the night. The only Lexington score came after a punt return gave them the ball on the 2-yard line.

The Tigers got off to a fast start with a touchdown on their first possession. Coty Eanes scored from 65 yards out before many fans even found their seats. Eddie Espinoza added the PAT to give Hardin County an early 7-0 lead.

Hardin County expanded that lead to 14 points midway through the second quarter. Eanes received a punt on his own 46-yard line and returned it 54 yards for a Tiger touchdown. After the extra-point kick by Espinoza, the Tigers held a 14-0 lead with 8:55 left in the second quarter.

After Lexington scored their only touchdown just one minute later, Hardin County put together another scoring drive before halftime. The Tigers started their possession on their own 43-yard line. They drove down to the 9-yard line before settling on a 26-yard field goal by Espinoza. The field goal put Hardin County up by a score of 17-7 at halftime.

The only score of the second half came in the third quarter. Daniel Avila scored on a 6-yard run to give the Tigers their final touchdown of the night. Espinoza added the extra-point to set the final score at 24-7. Avila rushed for 134 yards in the game on just 19 carries. Quarterback Barker Burnham completed 7-of-15 passes for 88 yards. Steven Rich was the leading receiver with 53 yards on four receptions. Josh Ivey had two receptions for 45 yards.

Jopp Bizzelll, Avila, and Rich each had eight total tackles in the game. Stephen Gobbell had seven total stops and Eanes had a total of six tackles. The Tiger defense was dominant the whole night. They held Lexington to a total of just 58 yards and allowed only six first downs in the game.

Tiger head coach William McAdams was very pleased with the effort of the Hardin County defense in the game. “They really shut them down and played a complete game. I was really proud of the way they played,” said McAdams.

McAdams is pleased with the fast start of the Tigers in their first four games. Hardin County has started the season with three straight wins and hasn’t allowed more than seven points in any of those games. “We have definitely gotten off to a good start. I’m pretty pleased with how things are going, but we’ve still got a lot of things that we can improve. We’re still trying to bring depth along on our team, and that has improved in the first three weeks. We’ve had a lot of good things happen, and hopefully that will continue,” said McAdams.