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Hopkins Thrills Home Fans In Semi-Finals Victory!
On Saturday evening, Hopkins played host to Morristown Beard Crimson for their second matchup of the season. In the earlier season matchup, the Hilltoppers did not bring their “A” game and fell to a strong Crimson team 40-27. Since then, both Hopkins and Morristown Beard had won each game over that span and came into this matchup in a win-or-go-home scenario on the way to the MIFL Championship. Hopkins players and fans came out ready for this game (the first Hopkins football playoff game in nearly 12 year), and at the end of the slugfest Hopkins would prevail victorious to the score of 40-38!
Similar to the Hilltoppers first matchup with the Crimson, they would start on uneven footing and gave up 3 quick touchdowns by midway through the first quarter to set the game at 20-0 Crimson. The Hopkins of recent years might have folded under this early pressure, but this year’s Hilltopper group was ready for the fight. Instead of laying off, Hopkins responded with a dazzling 60 yard Pearson Hill ‘23 rush before being downed at the 1 yard line. One Phil DeLise ‘20 QB Keeper and Mike Lau ‘20 extra point and Hopkins would close the gap to 20-7. Hopkins was eager for the ball back and quickly converted an onside kick attempt which set the Hilltoppers up in great field position. While Hopkins could not convert on this drive, they forced their first turnover of the game on MoBeard’s next possession on a Phil DeLise tackle and Pearson Hill recovery. 5 plays and 14 yards later, Pearson Hill jetted around the right side of the line from 5 yards out to close the gap to 20-14. On Morristown’s next drive, they were eager to right the ship and marched 70 yards down the field, connecting on a rollout pass to increase the Crimson’s lead to 26-14. With just over 2 minutes left in the first half, Hopkins took over possession and got to work on adding another score. This time, Phil DeLise connected with Carson Hill ‘24 from 20 yards out to make it 26-21. Hopkins also got another big play from Carson Hill on the kickoff return, who made a shoe-string saving tackle as Morristown Beard was close to scoring. The Hilltoppers would hold to the break, thanks to a Gunnar DeSantis sack to end the drive, and the difference remained at 5 in Morristown’s favor at halftime.
As halftime ended, Morristown wanted the ball back quickly and attempted an onside kick to secure possession. Hopkins was ready for the move though, recovered the kick, and set to work on another scoring drive. After a series of big completions, Pearson Hill found the endzone from 14 yards out to put Hopkins ahead for the first time in the game 27-26. The game of seesaw would continue, seeing the Crimson put together another touchdown drive, but the failed 2-point conversion made the game 32-27 and held the difference at 5. Hopkins was ready for the fight, and got to work on another scoring drive. Matt Diaz ‘23 ripped off an impressive 28 yard run to set Hopkins up in the redzone, and 2 plays later Pearson Hill scampered into the endzone from 20 yards away to put Hopkins ahead 34-32. Morristown Beard got to work to find the endzone one more time, but another Carson Hill shoe-string tackle on the 2 point conversion kept the game locked at 38-34 Crimson with 7:30 to play in the contest. That was alot of time to work with, and Hopkins was ready to gain the lead one last time. Hopkins would produce a 10 play 60-yard drive capped off with a 2 yard Pearson Hill touchdown to make it a 40-38 Hilltopper lead. Hopkins defense was relied upon to make their biggest stop of the season. The final two plays of the game saw a team sack from Charlie Wich ‘22, Brandon Smith ‘20, with pressure from Gunnar DeSantis, as well as a game-saving pass breakup in the endzone from Pearson Hill. The Hilltopper fans stormed the field as the clock read 0:00s and the Hilltoppers had advanced to the MIFL Championship game!
To see highlights from the game, please click HERE
To see highlights from the game, please click HERE
This was yet another thrilling game to be a part of, as the Hilltoppers have won their last 3 games by 3, 4, and 2 points respectively. This win puts Hopkins in the MIFL Championship game where they will face the Long Island Lutheran Crusaders (this is the Crusaders’ first year in the MIFL). The game will kick off at 7:30 PM on Saturday, November 2nd at Brunswick School (1252 King Street, Greenwich, CT). We had a great turnout Saturday night in Milford for the Semi-Final, and we hope our fans will make one more trek as Hopkins looks to secure the championship!
Hopkins is a private middle school and high school for grades 7-12. Located on a campus overlooking New Haven, CT, the School takes pride in its intellectually curious students as well as its dedicated faculty and staff.
Hopkins School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.