Playing in a homecoming game is always fun. That is unless you are the Hopkins football team playing at Muhlenberg in front of a school full of hostile fans. Then it's more like a battle. But the Blue Jays came out fighting on Saturday night to defeat the Mules 40-27 in their own home.
In a step backwards from defending their title as Conference Champions, the Mules were outplayed for most of the game and dropped to 1-3 overall and 0-2 in conference play. Meanwhile, Hopkins continues to dominate, improving to 4-1 overall and 3-0 in the conference.
The Jays' defense was nearly unstoppable, controlling the game from the very beginning. They out-thought, out-hustled and just simply outplayed their opponents, leading to a dominating first half and going back to the locker room with a 27-3 lead.
Both the offense and defense played consistently, even with a great deal of pressure dealt by the school's intensity.
Sophomore wide receiver Sam Wernick felt that the Jay defense made things go very smoothly on the other side of the field.
"The atmosphere was really intense because it was their homecoming game, but we took the crowd out of the game early," Wernick said. "Our defense stepped up from the very beginning and set the tone for the entire game. They took a lot of stress off the offense and made it easier to play."
Taking advantage of five first half turnovers, the Jays rolled through the Mules and strung together some relentless drives. Kicker and Centennial Conference Special Teams Player of the Week Alex Lachman began the first quarter with two field goals. A touchdown pass by quarterback Hewitt Tomlin to tight end Brian Hopkins helped the Jays start off with a 13-3 lead.
The Jays kept it going in the second quarter by producing a touchdown rush via senior running back and co-captain Andrew Kase. He powered it in for a one yard run after the Jays put together a successful eight play, 54 yard drive. Only two minutes later, sophomore strong safety Kale Sweeney recovered a fumble on the Muhlenburg 36 yard line. Tomlin then threw one up for a 31 yard touchdown reception by junior Tucker Michels.
Even though the Jays prevailed in the first half, Muhlenburg was not going to slip away so quietly. The Mules came out in the second half and temporarily shifted the momentum back their way as they put together some quick drives to make the game close.
Muhlenburg's offense had some speedy and successful drives at the start of the second half to get their team back in the game. Two quick touchdown passes in the third quarter put the Mules within 10 points and all of a sudden the Jays had a threat on their hands. Sophomore cornerback Sam Eagleson, who was part of a defense that had three interceptions for the day, saw the offense pick the defense back up in the second half.
"Our defense let up big plays that took no time off the clock," Eagleson said, "But when it started to look better for Muhlenburg, our offense kept putting them away."
Early on in the fourth quarter, Tomlin hit Brian Hopkins again for another touchdown to make the score 34-17 with 10:44 remaining. When it seemed that the Jays had run away with it again, Muhlenburg found a way to kick a 35 yard field goal and recover an onsides kick. Then with one play, a 59 yardtouchdown pass, the Mules were seven points behind with 8:49 remaining.
With the opposing fans on their feet, the Blue Jays got the ball back and had a ten play drive down the field for 72 yards. Andrew Kase got the ball seven out of those ten and made things happen for the Jays. He carried the ball into the endzone on a 12 yard rush to put the Jays up 40-27 and end the game.
Kase had a total of 149 rushing yards on Saturday which puts him in eighth place in the Centennial Conference for career rushing yards with 3,550.
The football team feels like their team cohesiveness and the numbers support them. Their 4-1 record on the season has the Jays off to their best start since 2005 when they won their first seven games en route to an 8-3 record and an NCAA tournament appearance.
"We have a chance to make school history," Eagleson said "Everyone realizes it. The hard work in the off-season is paying off and every week we're getting better." Things are looking up for the Jays as they prepare to take on Centennial Conference opponent Dickinson next week.
