Hopkins Drops Opener

On Friday, September 15th, the Hopkins Hilltoppers made their first road trip of the season (if you don’t count the September 9th rainout at Horace Mann) down to visit the King School Vikings in Stamford, CT to begin MIFL play.  The early kickoff meant an even earlier school dismissal for the Hilltoppers, who arrived in Stamford ready to kick off play at 2:00pm.

Under beautiful weather conditions, the Hilltoppers played King tight for much of the game.  Most of the first half was played to a stalemate, as the Hilltoppers managed to get their ground game going behind nice runs from Maurice Ellis ‘27 but were unable to find the endzone.  Midway through the second quarter, the Vikings found the end zone from 10 yards out as King’s senior Captain Charlie Hill punched it in for the score.  A Vikings PAT made it 7-0, and that's where the score would remain heading into halftime.  The second half continued to be a battle between the two teams, with King adding on to their lead just before the end of the 3rd quarter with another Charlie Hill touchdown run.  A missed extra point kept the score 13-0, with the Hilltoppers eager to make a comeback.  The Hilltoppers next offensive possession showed some promise, but unfortunately a dropped 4th down completion ended the drive and gave the ball back to the Vikings.  On this drive, the Vikings would move down the field and punch it into the end zone one more time, this time on a 5 yard completion to put King ahead for good, 20-0.  Hopkins possessed and turned the ball over on their final two drives, but luckily pounced on a fumble late in the 4th quarter when Senior Captain Andy Toft ‘24 forced it loose and Matias Vece ‘24 recovered it.

The Hopkins Hilltoppers return to New Haven this week for their first home contest of the year against the Poly Prep Blue Devils.  Kickoff is scheduled for Friday afternoon at 3:30pm and we hope to see many of our fans in attendance!