The clock struck zero at Homewood Field on Saturday, November 20th, and another Blue Jay football season went into the books. While this season was not the Cinderella sensation of last year, when the Jays marched to the NCAA Elite Eight, 2010 had plenty of excitement, including their dominating finale — a 44-14 win against Lebanon Valley in the ECAC South Atlantic Bowl.
With the win, Hopkins, who tied for first place in the Centennial Conference, but was denied an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, completed their season at 8-3.
The Jays won their final five contests by a combined 142 points, an average of just over four touchdowns per win. The loss for Lebanon Valley ended their season with a record of 6-5.
While the game marked the end of the road for a handful of Hopkins seniors, it was two juniors who stole the show in the Bowl game.
Quarterback Hewitt Tomlin and wide receiver Sam Wernick continued to put up staggering numbers. Tomlin, who was named the game’s Most Outstanding Player, went 32-38 with four touchdowns and a career high 443 yards. His 32 completions broke the school’s completion record.
Wernick, who was recently named Centennial Conference Offensive Player of the Year, caught 10 of Tomlin’s bullets, totaling 180 yards for three scores. His final touchdown of the afternoon gave him the Conference record for touchdown receptions in a season with 17.
The game was close early on as the Dutchmen were tied with the Blue Jays 7-7 into the last minutes of the first half. Hopkins had a chance to go into the locker room with the lead as they sat on the Lebanon Valley goal line but were stuffed twice and turned the ball over on downs.
Moments later, sophomore linebacker Taylor Maciow broke through the offense to force a safety and give Hopkins a 9-7 lead. Maciow’s play began a scoring parade for the Jays.
Hopkins received the ball as a result of the safety and, with the help of sophomore running back Jonathan Rigaud who carried five times for 25 yards on the drive, took a 16-7 lead when Tomlin found senior Brian Hopkins in the end zone.
Four plays later, junior Ryan Piatek intercepted a Lebanon Valley pass and soon after Tomlin found Wernick for the pair’s second score of the day. Hopkins rolled into halftime with a 23-7 lead, having been tied just minutes earlier.
The Jay attack continued with a 71-yard scoring drive to open the second half. Junior Scott Barletta capped the drive with a one-yard punch in and Hopkins had a merciless lead.
But the Jays did not ease up on offense. After a quick three and out, Tomlin found Wernick for an 80-yard touchdown pass to put the Jays up by 30. The pass was a historic one — not only was it Wernick’s record-breaking reception, but it was also Tomlin’s 50th career touchdown pass, tying him for the all-time lead with none other than Head Coach Jim Margraff.
Tomlin would go on to break the Centennial Conference record for passing yards in a season with 3,309 and the Hopkins record for touchdown passes in a season with 24.
The monumental offensive day was just half of the Jay excitement, however. The Hopkins defense was stellar all day, intercepting three passes and registering three sacks. They were led by sophomore Adam Schweyer who had a career-best 17 tackles while Piatek had 11 tackles of his own to add to his game-changing interception.
The Jays won their fourth ECAC bowl since 2002 and put an exclamation point on their terrific season.
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