For a Hopkins football team that came into last weekend having played the second-hardest schedule in all of division III, Saturday's game against the winless Juniata Eagles was a much-needed reprieve from the team's weekly grind.
The Jays made the most of their game against the Eagles, scoring on their first three drives and running away to a 42-21 victory in Huntingdon, Penn. The win brings the Jays to 2-4 in the Centennial Conference and 3-5 overall for the season. It dropped Juniata to 0-8 in their first season as a member of the Centennial Conference.
Hopkins was propelled by sophomore running back Andrew Kase from the very first series, as the Jays handed the ball off to him on six of the eight plays in the first drive. Kase's 45 yards during Hopkins's first possession, including his 11-yard touchdown run, helped put the Jays up 7-0.
"We definitely wanted to establish the run right off the bat and get after it," Head Coach Jim Margraff said of the run-heavy offensive game plan.
The Jays' defense did not give Juniata any time to get back in the game either, as Eagles quarterback Jay Leonard had his first pass of the game picked off at midfield by senior defensive back Dan Requena on the Eagles' second play from scrimmage. Requena returned the interception 43 yards to the Juniata eight-yard line, setting up another Andrew Kase score from eight yards out. Kase's score put the Jays up 14-0 less than halfway into the first quarter.
Kase would finish the game with 156 yards rushing and three touchdowns, two rushing and one receiving, to continue his stellar sophomore season.
"The offensive line got a good push off the ball," said freshman left guard Ryan Lino, who was making his first collegiate start. "And Andrew Kase is just that good of a running back."
After a brief three-and-out by the Eagles, Hopkins went at it on the ground again with another dose of Andrew Kase, who tacked on another 37 yards to his total during the series. Margraff's offense handed the ball off on for eight of 11 plays and eventually put the ball in the end zone on a four yard pass from sophomore quarterback Michael Murray to freshman wide receiver Brian Hopkins.
"They were one of the smaller defensive lines we faced so we thought we'd be able to run the ball pretty well against them," Murray said. "We accomplished what we set out to do and we even managed to mix in a little bit of the pass."
The early 21-0 lead allowed Margraff to get a good look at freshman quarterback Max Islinger, who had been acting as the team's punter. Islinger came in for Murray in the middle of the second quarter and completed a two-yard pass on his first attempt as a college quarterback.
"We treat the quarterback like any other position," Margraff said of the switch under center. "Mike's our starter, but we play more than one tailback so we're going to play more than one quarterback."
Islinger was forced to punt after his first possession but he would come back on his second drive to throw for a 46-yard touchdown pass to a fellow freshman, wide receiver Tucker Michels.
"I was really excited for Max [Islinger]," Murray declared, showing that he was not at all upset about being pulled. "It was great to see him get his first touchdown pass at the collegiate level."
"Max is a good quarterback," Lino said. "It's shown in practice and we didn't miss a beat when he came in."
Senior captain and wide receiver Corey Sattler also got his first career touchdown in the game. The touchdown came during the Jays' first possession of the second half on a 21-yard pass from Murray, who had re-entered at halftime.
"Everyone was really excited to see him get his first touchdown," said Murray, who finished with three touchdowns of his own. "It's a tribute to the type of receiver he is, a technical possession receiver, and he was so excited."
"I'm just glad to see him finally get in the end zone," Coach Margraff said of his captain.
"We would've found a way to get him in the end zone over the next couple of weeks anyway, but it's better that he did it naturally."
The confidence of a 42-21 victory and the way the offense was able to impose their will against the Eagles will definitely help the Jays as they head into their final two games of the season, including a Parents' Weekend showdown on Saturday against Franklin & Marshall College.
"Our goal was to approach the second half of the season as if we were approaching a new season," Murray said. "We want to set ourselves on the right track for next season and we want to come away with a couple of wins."
"When you play ten games, they're all big games," Margraff said, hesitating to put extra importance on the last two weeks of the season. "We want to finish the season strong. These are long-standing rivals and our seniors want to finish on a high note."
For Corey Sattler, one of the seniors Margraff is referring to, it will be hard to top the feeling of scoring his first college-level touchdown.
Two more wins to round out the season and a few more touchdowns to his name, however, might suffice.
