Hilltoppers Get First Win of 2022 Season

On Saturday, September 17th, the Hopkins School Hilltoppers hosted the King School Vikings for their first home game of the Metropolitan Independent Football League Season.  Hopkins lost its opening game of the season on the road in a hard fought battle against Pingry School 19-12 (their first matchup in school history), but unfortunately the film was unusable to create a highlight recap and writeup.  Sitting at 0-1, this was Hopkins first matchup with King since 2016, and it had been since 2011 since Hopkins last beat King.  Thankfully, the Hilltoppers showed up ready to play and left with a 27-13 victory over their old FAA rival.

Early on in the game, it was evident that Hopkins came out ready to play and set the tone early.  After stalling King’s first possession on offense, Hopkins drove down the field and punched the ball in the endzone from 12 yards out on a Luke O’Connell ‘23 keeper.  A Miko Coakley ’23 extra point made it 7-0, and from there Hopkins would never trail in the game.  On King’s second possession, Hopkins forced another punt and then drove down the field through a series of completed passes.  Facing a 1-10 from King’s 24 yard line, O’Connell rolled left and found Matt Goos ‘25 in the flat who took it up the sideline, following a great block from Ezra Fearon ‘24, and into the endzone.  Another Coakley extra point, and the score was 14-0.  On the next defensive series, Ezra Fearon made his second best catch of the day on a one handed interception and 30 yard return.  Fearon wasn’t finished there though.  Hopkins' best possession came just before halftime, when they received the ball at their own 36 yard line with just about a minute remaining.  O’Connell connected on 3 passes to move the ball down the field and spike the clock with 5 seconds remaining on King’s 17 yard line.  On the final play, O’Connell pump faked and connected with Fearon on a go route in the back corner of the endzone for a diving catch, setting the score at 21-0 going into the half.  This play was highlighted on GametimeCT's Instagram account and for good reason! 

Hopkins faced more of a fight in the second half, as King punched the ball in the endzone twice in the 3rd quarter to cut the score to 21-13.  After King’s second touchdown, Hopkins offense put together another strong drive moving the ball down the field before O’Connell connected with Andy Toft ‘24 in the left corner of the endzone from 19 yards out to make it a 2 score deficit for the Vikings with 9 minutes remaining in the game (O’Connell’s 3rd touchdown pass and 4th score of the game).  King’s offense hoped to respond on their next drive, and after moving the ball to Hopkins’ 11 yard line it was the Hilltoppers who would come up with their ultimate stop.  Facing 4th and 2, Jonathan Brooks ‘24 rushed off the right edge and batted a pass down to give Hopkins the ball back on offense to ice the game.  A strong 1st down run by Charlie Scott ‘26 set the tone for the next series, and Hopkins was able to run out the clock.  

To see highlights from the game, CLICK HERE

Sitting at 1-1, Hopkins will face a stiff test this upcoming weekend as they host the Poly Prep Blue Devils.  Poly is off to a strong start this season at 2-0 with wins over Long Island Lutheran and Pingry, and the Hilltoppers know they will be in for a tough battle.  We hope to see many of our fans at the game as we look to improve to 2-1!