The 11th ranked Hopkins football team traveled to Carlisle, Pa. this past weekend to take on Centennial Conference opponent Dickinson College. The Blue Jays cruised past the Red Devils, making a strong statement with their 49-0 shutout win. The Blue Jays continue to demonstrate their powerhouse status in the conference, hoisting their conference winning streak to 18 games.
In addition, the Jays set two more school records with their 20th straight regular season win, and 10th straight road game win.
The Blue Jays were led by Centennial Conference Offensive Player of the Week, senior running back Jonathan Rigaud, who had a career day in tying a school record, with four rushing touchdowns. Rigaud touched the ball 20 times for 130 yards on the day. With his four touchdowns this week, the senior star moved into second place on Hopkins’s career rushing touchdown list with a total of 27.
Hopkins jumped out to a lightening quick lead as Rigaud scored twice in the first four minutes of the game. Dickinson actually started the game on offense, but the Blue Jays set the tone defensively, forcing a three and out.
Attempting to punt on fourth down, Hopkins senior linebacker Adam Schweyer broke loose on the outside and blocked the punt. The ball squirted out of bounds at the Dickinson six yard line. It took Hopkins just one play to punch it in from six yards out for Rigaud’s first score of the afternoon.
On the ensuing possession, sophomore defensive lineman Michael Longo forced through the line and sacked Dickinson’s quarterback, Cole Ahnell, forcing a fumble at the Dickinson 21 yard line. With the momentum clearly in Hopkins’ favor, the offense needed only four plays to punch it into the end zone for the 14-0 early. Riguad scored from 10 yards out for his second touchdown of the day.
The Blue Jays defense was in shutdown mode all day, keeping Dickinson scoreless. After making stop after continual stop, Hopkins’s offense drove 70 yards down the field in 11 plays for their third score of the day. Rigaud accounted for 37 of the yards, punching it in from one yard out to put Hopkins ahead, 21-0. Late in the second quarter, after the defense forced another three and out, junior quarterback Robbie Matey drove the Blue Jays 80 yards in seven plays to push the lead to 28-0. Matey hooked up with junior wide receiver Dan Wodicka, for 52 yards, driving them deep into Dickinson territory.
Six plays later, Matey found senior A. J. Safi wide open in the middle of the field from ten yards out to extend their lead at the half.
“It seems as if we have a really balanced offense right now," junior placekicker Richie Carbone said. "We’ve been getting equal success out of the running and passing games. Every week it is a new guy stepping up and that’s what you need in order to succeed.”
The second half was the same story as the first, with Hopkins dominating from start to finish.
The Blue Jays went ahead 35-0 when junior running back J. D. Abbott pounded the ball into the end zone from five yards out. Rigaud capped a career day with his fourth touchdown of the day during a six yard run to give the Blue Jays a commanding 42-0 lead.
The final score of the day for Hopkins was in the fourth quarter when sophomore quarterback Braden Anderson found Jared Beekman for a 65 yard touchdown pass.
While it was a field day for the Blue Jays’ offense, the defense posted a shutout on the day. They held Dickinson to only 272 yards, allowing only 91 in the second half. The defense sacked the Red Devils three times, and forced four turnovers: two fumble recoveries and two interceptions. Senior standout linebacker Adam Schweyer totaled eight tackles on the day, as did standout freshman linebacker Keith Corliss.
The Blue Jays offense has been tremendous all year, and generated more impressive statistics, totaling 533 yards on the day. Along with Rigaud’s monster day, Matey threw for 261 yards of his own. Junior Dan Wodicka caught 6 passes for 111 yards, and junior receiver Bob D’Orazio added another six catches for 78 yards. Carbone was 7 for 7 on his extra points.
With this weekend’s win, Hopkins broke into the top ten in the AFCA Poll, moving into the 10th position. They also leap-frogged two spots in the D3football.com poll to 16th.
However, Hopkins will face arguably their toughest test of the season thus far, taking on conference opponent Gettysburg (5-1) this Friday at 7 p.m. under the lights of Homewood Field.
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