Offensive explosion in home-opener

On Saturday, the Hopkins football team came back to Homewood Field to open conference play in their first home game of the season.

The Blue Jays were coming off a dominant victory in week one, looking to bring the same intensity level into their home crowd. The visiting Susquehanna Crusaders were no match for the hostile environment at Homewood, as the Blue Jays steam rolled to a 56-7 victory.

The tone was set late in the first quarter, when a scoreless affair quickly became 7-0, in favor of the Blue Jays, after a 34 yard interception return by senior linebacker Ryan Piatek, the Centennial Conference defensive player of the week.

Hopkins refused to look back from that point, and the entire stadium could feel the level of focus being turned on, as the Hopkins offense went to work.

With 38 seconds remaining in the first quarter, the Blue Jays expanded the lead to 14-0 on a two-yard run by senior running back Nick Fazio to conclude an eight play, 75-yard drive.

Before the Crusaders had an opportunity to get anything going on offense, the Blue Jays forced back-to-back punts, the latter leading to another touchdown run from Fazio, widening the Hopkins lead to 21 points.

After Hopkins' swarming defense forced another punt, the offense turned around and scored another touchdown with just over two minutes left in the half, expanding the margin to 28-0 in favor of the Jays.

The scoring attack was not over. After another defensive stop, Hopkins regained the ball with just over a minute left in the half. A drive that took only five plays and 39 seconds led to a third consecutive touchdown drive for the Blue Jays.

A five-yard run by junior running back Jonathan Rigaud tore the hearts out of Susquehanna, creating a 35-0 halftime lead.

For the first time in school history, Hopkins compiled more than 250 yards, both passing and rushing on offense. The Blue Jays totaled 269 rushing yards and 290 passing yards, while their defense only allowed Susquehanna to gain 179 yards of total offense.

Rigaud finished the game with seven carries for 150 yards and three touchdowns. His 21.4 yards per carry are the highest ever in a single game by a Hopkins running back with six or more carries.

Fazio matched Rigaud's touchdown mark with three of his own, rushing for 66 yards on 11 carries.

The third quarter opened with a loud roar from the Homewood crowd, as Rigaud took the first play of the second half 68 yards from the line of scrimmage for his second rushing touchdown of the day.

Refusing to become complacent with a 42-point advantage, the Blue Jays continued to pound the running game; just minutes later, Rigaud exploded for a 69-yard touchdown run, his third and final rushing touchdown of the game, opening the lead to 49-0.

While the offense completed its scoring midway through the third quarter, the defense would not be denied scoring another touchdown of their own.

With one minute remaining in the third, freshman defensive back Patrick Eichner stole a pass from Susquehanna and ran the interception back 68 yards for his first career touchdown.

With the game out of reach by the time the fourth quarter rolled around, the Crusaders managed to intercept a Blue Jay passing attempt and return it 47 yards for their first trip to end zone and avoid the shutout.

Before any more scoring could take place the game clock ticked away. The Hopkins home opener came to a close with a final score of 56-7.

The Blue Jays and head Coach Jim Margraff are off to a great start, beginning the season 2-0 and 1-0 in the Centennial Conference.

On Saturday, the Blue Jays will travel to Moravian looking to continue their early season dominance.

Last year against the Greyhounds, the Blue Jays dominated, 41-3, behind Fazio, Wernick, and Tomlin. Fazio rushed for two scores in the beating.