As the anticipation continued to rise after each practice during the week, the Hopkins football team traveled up to Carlisle, Pa. this past Friday to face off against conference rival Dickinson. This was their first Friday game of the year, so they had a short week to prepare.
Coming off a dominant victory over Juniata last weekend, the Jays looked to keep their undefeated season alive.
They didn't disappoint.
In an all-around effort led by senior quarterback Braden Anderson, sophomore receiver Bradley Munday and an outstanding defensive unit, the Jays pummeled the Red Devils by a final score of 42-7.
With their latest triumphant victory, the team improves to 6-0 on the season, while simultaneously picking up Head Coach Jim Margraff’s 173rd career victory, putting him within a game of tying Eddie Hurt’s record for the most wins by a college football coach in the entire state of Maryland.
The game got off to an electric start under the Friday night lights as sophomore Jack Toner sacked Dickinson quarterback Cole Ahnell for a loss of seven yards on the first play of the game. The Hopkins defense went on to force a three-and-out before receiving the ball at their own 34 for the start of their first offensive drive. The offense wasted no time as Anderson hit Munday for a 66-yard touchdown pass on the team’s first offensive play of the game. From that point on, the Jays were firmly in control, scoring touchdowns on three of their next five possessions and entering halftime with a 28-0 lead.
The team picked up right where it left off at the onset of the second half, marching 71 yards down the field for a touchdown. The drive was highlighted by outstanding running by sophomore running back Stuart Walters and junior running back Brandon Cherry. The drive was capped off by a six-yard touchdown catch by Cesar Concepcion in the back corner of the end zone. Hopkins would go on to win the game 42-7 behind a tremendous overall team effort.
Munday was excited about the outcome of the game and commented on how the team continues to get better after each victory.
“This past weekend was just another improvement on our season," Munday said. "Ever since the beginning of camp in the summer, we have been improving more and more each week. Coming off of a bye week, we knew there was a chance we could come out rusty. But, we came out and started very fast and sharp. Our strong start set the tone for the rest of the game and we carried our momentum to get the win."
Despite his optimism after the victory, Munday believes that the team still has a lot of room for improvement if the Jays have postseason aspirations.
"We are happy with where we are right now, but we know we still have a lot of work to do," he said. "Our coaches are doing a great job pushing us and setting the expectations high for our team this year."
The defense was nearly impenetrable all game long, as the Dickinson offense was held to a mere seven points on the day. Junior Keith Corliss led the team with 10 tackles, while sophomore Dan Johnson and freshman Lance Hammond each forced a turnover. However, even more impressive than any other statistics of the day was the fact that the Jays defense held Dickinson running back Cedric Madden to just 44 total yards on the day. Madden entered the game as the Centennial Conference’s leading rusher, averaging 119.2 yards per game.
With this latest display of dominance, the ninth-ranked Blue Jays improved to 6-0 for the fourth straight season. But this squad is not content with merely a good start.
Looking to avenge a heartbreaking loss to St. John Fischer in last year’s NCAA tournament, the team will seek to carry its winning ways to the postseason in November.
Munday emphasized that the next weekend matchup was even more important than the weekend before.
“So far, after every win this year, our coaches have made it clear that the next week is more important than the last," he said. "After we win, we are happy for a day and then we have to forget about it and move on to preparing for our next opponent. Our undefeated start has definitely given us confidence, which helps our momentum, but we will keep the momentum going by doing the same thing we have every week thus far. We have seen what it takes to win, so we will continue to prepare very well for each game the way we need to.”
The next challenge for the Jays will come Friday night, under the lights of Homewood Field against Gettysburg. With the hope that the entire stadium will be packed with faithful Hopkins fans, the Blue Jays will look to keep their season perfect as they continue on their march towards postseason glory.
