By MAGGIE SPITZER For The News-Letter
On Friday, Oct. 16, the Hopkins football team beat the Dickinson College Red Devils 34-7 under the lights of Homewood Field.
In the win, wide receiver junior Bradley Munday scored two touchdowns and recorded seven receptions for 142 yards.
Munday’s performance on Friday night follows suit with his consistent offensive contributions to the Blue Jays’ success so far this season.
After their first six games, the 5-foot-8-inch Munday leads the Blue Jays in total yards with 549, six touchdowns and 91.5 average yards per game.
The News-Letter sat down with Munday to discuss the team’s undefeated season and his offensive contributions.
N-L: What do you think your biggest improvements on the field are since your freshman year? BM: I would say my biggest improvement is my confidence. Being a junior running the same offense for the third year in a row, I know the offense much better than before. This has allowed me to feel more comfortable on the field and really focus on the littler things and fundamentals, which make me a better player.
N-L: Does being undefeated challenge, pressurize or motivate your team? BM: I would say that it motivates us. We try to take one week at a time, and this week happens to be a big week because we have the opportunity to stay undefeated. As simple as that may sound, that’s how we have to approach it and not get caught looking ahead.
N-L: What are your personal goals for the remainder of the season? BM: Personally I want to be the best leader I can be. I prefer to talk about the goals our team has because individually I’m just a part of the team. So my job is to do everything I can do to help our team achieve those goals. Right now our goal is to win our seventh game and after that, to win a conference championship. I want to lead the best way I can to help us do that.
N-L: What sets the Hopkins program apart from others? BM: The Hopkins program is something I’ve never been a part of before. I’ve been a part of winning traditions, but the culture here is something unmatchable. The camaraderie between the players and close relationships with the coaches is something I am fortunate to be a part of.
N-L: As a top ten team in NCAA D-III right now, what is the overall mentality and attitude of the team? BM: Coach Margraff always puts an emphasis on how rankings aren’t important to him because they really don’t mean anything. Sure, it gives us motivation to continue to play hard. But, for the most part, the “top ten teams” don’t see each other until the playoffs. We’re working one week at a time and trying to play as well as we can, so that we can feel confident at the end of the season.
N-L: What do you think your team’s strengths and weaknesses are heading into the final four matches of Centennial Conference? BM: Strengths are getting off to fast starts and dominating early in the game. We have a lot of talent and have been ready to go at the beginning of all of our games. For weaknesses, we have become complacent in some games and have not played as well as we should have throughout the whole game. Coach Margraff always refers to the 212 degrees analogy — that water boils at 212 degrees but doesn’t at 211. We are a great team when we play at 212 but the second we get complacent, we are at the 211 degrees range and are not playing to our full potential.
N-L: What about this season stands out for you compared to the past two years? BM: I love the feel our team has this year. We know we have a lot of talent, and we work very hard in practice. I think everybody has high aspirations to making a serious run in the post season.
Munday and the Blue Jays will look to record their 28th consecutive regular season win and remain undefeated when they travel to Gettysburg College on Saturday.
