Last night (September 11, 2025) the Maroons may have rested their case
There are some consistencies between planning a football game, Xs and Os-wise, and implementing a trial strategy. The author of this piece tried hundreds of trials and knows well, perhaps better than almost anyone, the nervousness attenuated with the anticipation of awaiting the jury’s return to report to the courtroom its verdict. We felt like the game with Paducah Tilghman was “for all the marbles” last night and the proof as to the worthiness of both this team and its many stars has been offered. That side of the argument rested its case, for the evening anyway. From now until early December, we will have to await the jury’s return, the jury’s verdict. Can’t speak for you, but I (for one) am pretty nervous.
HB Lyon, Scouting Director, “KPGFootball”
Madisonville, KY: As Coach Lyon alludes in his scouting report, I wasn’t always a sportswriter. I was an actively engaged, trial lawyer for decades who had quite a bit of trial experience arguing well known cases for notorious, and often infamous, individuals.
There are many similarities between proving a point to a jury and to a reader. Many similar techniques are often employed.
In most trials the respective parties start out with theories regarding their cases. In a civil case, the two sides have burdens of persuasion. In a criminal trial, the government is the only one with a burden which it is to meet while the defendant attempts to demonstrate the government failed in what it set out to do.
The sides get the opportunity of building records, or entering proof, supporting that side’s theory. When both sides have rested, the jury is instructed, retires, and deliberates to determine which of the parties has either more likely proven their side is correct (in a civil case) or whether the government has proven the guilt of the accused beyond a reasonable doubt.
I have had a position on this “Mr. Football” race this entire season. I have believed Markezz Hightower to be this season’s frontrunner for the award for his prodigious rushing numbers, TDs scored, and the versatility and utility Hightower has displayed which has greatly contributed to Madisonville North Hopkins’s attack in a multiplicity of its phases.
I felt last night’s game would be huge if my position was to gain popular and wide traction in the Bluegrass. I felt like Mr. Football was on the line and I went to the game to see if the young athlete would seize the moment or shrink from its glare.
Sure, Hightower had been performing well up until the Tilghman game. However, production is one thing in high school football; but, so is accumulating production while playing against the commonwealth’s best teams, most talented rosters.
Hightower hadn’t had that opportunity, until last night. Last night was his time to shine. He took it. No, you might say he seized it by the throat.
I drove to Madisonville to watch the game. The Maroons honored me at mid-field by having me bring out the game ball and participate in the coin-toss.
The PA announcer said some very nice things about me. The occasion and the fuss made over me will forever remain among my most cherished memories. Thank you, Madisonville.
The real reason I went was to see if Madisonville North Hopkins was the team I had been claiming. I went to see if Markezz Hightower either was a “Mr. Football” candidate or composed of the literary equivalent of smoke and mirrors propped up and rigged to hold a trophy for which some want to claim him undeserving, unworthy.
Markezz Hightower built an impressive record. These statistics are unofficial but we had Markezz with 125 yards gained from scrimmage on 19-carries.
Hightower had a TD on a punt he returned for a pivotal, 3rd-Q score. The housed punt return occurred at a time the team really needed the padding.
Hightower also contributed to defensive play which kept the running attack from The Blue Tornado bottled-up, leaving the offense both one-dimensional and, therefore, more easily defended. Like some of his teammates, Hightower answered the call each and every time he was needed.
Like most all season, Hightower had some help. Ryder Sandidge is just a freaking football player. There really isn’t anything more descriptive or commendable to say about the young man than that.
Sandidge made some huge returns on special teams. Sandige broke up and defended passes all night long. Sandidge gained 44-yards on 10-carries at a time Paducah was “keying” on the Mr. Football candidate and returning All-Stater slotted at RB (Hightower), the one in the scouting report, the one in everybody’s scouting report.
Travion Stafford, who has come up big-time all season, had 30-yards gained on his five (5) rushing attempts. Like Sandidge and Hightower, Stafford was all over the field.
So was Jayden Travis, the senior TE who is the sixth member of the offensive line and a reliable defender. The blocking up front was pivotal to the team’s success. The defense was pivotal to the team’s success. Controlling the lines of scrimmage was key number one, strategy numero uno, and Travis was part, parcel, and indelibly a component of all of those efforts.
Perhaps the star of the evening may have been PK, A Noah Mays. Mays nailed the FG which would comprise the winning margin. Last night included, Mays is 25 for 25 on the season in PATs and two (2) for (3) in FGs. That last FG, the one which got the team to 25 in the points column, couldn’t have been bigger, couldn’t have been more clutch.
Mays is a weapon. Last night he went off on Tilghman; and it “left a mark.”
When we say this; believe us. The win last night, on the campus of Madisonville North Hopkins High School, against the commonwealth’s defending 4A champion and top ranked team in its classification was a total team effort. Every last member of the roster, every cheerleader screaming her head off while interfering with Tilghman’s snap cadence, to every fan who took to their feet in the grandstand to cheer on the “Mops on Top!”
This record was convincing. The evidence is in, the Maroons will rest its case. The jury will return with a verdict. But, as far as KPGFootbll is concerned; you can close this case, Mister!
This one’s over. This one’s in the freaking bag!
This is Friday Night Fletch, reporting for KPGFootball, reminding you to PLAY THROUGH THE WHISTLE!
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