Men’s football improved to 2-0 on Saturday after a nail-biting win against the Christopher Newport University (CNU) Captains.
The Blue Jays entered the game ranked 14th with a home winning streak of 13 games, while the Captains entered 1-0 after their absolutely dominant performance against Southern Virginia University.
CNU started the scoring with a touchdown on their first possession of the game when Captains quarterback Matt Dzierski found running back Gunner White for a 19-yard touchdown pass. A 3-play, 75-yard drive certainly appeared to set the tone for the start of the game; however, both teams went scoreless for the remainder of the quarter.
To start the second quarter, Hopkins senior defensive back Josh Andersson intercepted Dzierski for a pick-6, tying the game at 7. Andersson finished the game with two tackles and a pass breakup. He became the first Hopkins player with a pick-6 since Macauley Kilbane in 2021.
Andersson was named Centennial Conference Defensive Player of the Week, his first time winning the award.
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Senior safety Josh Andersson had a phenomenal game on Saturday that won him the Centennial Conference Defensive Player of the Week.
With 21 seconds remaining in the quarter, Hopkins quarterback Bay Harvey found tight end Will Leger for a goal-line touchdown, giving the Blue Jays a 14–7 halftime lead. The offensive score of the game for the Blue Jays was an 11-play, 65-yard drive.
Hopkins would build on the lead in the third, scoring the only points of the quarter when Harvey found Leger again for a 3-yard touchdown pass, giving Hopkins a 20–7 lead. Another successful drive for the Blue Jays would give them a two-possession lead, this time going 85 yards in 15 plays.
In an interview with The News-Letter, Leger shared how it felt to score twice in such a close game.
“Scoring is always fun, especially in close games,“ Leger said. “All the work was done by Cole Crotty for the first [touchdown], and a good look from the O-line and ball from Bay Harvey made the second [touchdown] easy.”
The Captains would respond with an 18-play, 62-yard drive of their own, taking them to the 1-yard line. However, costly penalties and huge goal-line stops by the Blue Jay defense would turn the fortunes of the drive and would lead to a turnover on downs.
The Blue Jays’ defense showed up in a huge way this game. Junior linebacker Cole Peters had a career-high 10 tackles, which also led the team. He had one of the four total team sacks, while senior defensive lineman Zach Alligood had a career-high seven tackles.
CNU would force the Blue Jays to punt on their next drive and would go 80 yards in 7 plays. They capped it off with a 40-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Colin Hart with eight minutes remaining in the game, making the score 20–14.
Hopkins made it a priority to use as much clock as possible on their next possession, milking almost five minutes and taking the ball down to the Captains’ goal line. However, an interception by defensive back Logan Baker gave the Captains a chance to win the game with just over three minutes left.
The Captains would connect on a 46-yard pass to White to move into Blue Jay territory with just under two minutes left.
However, the Blue Jays’ defense would respond with a pair of sacks, one of which was by Aligood, and a false start forced the Captains out of scoring position and into a fourth-and-28 situation.
The Hopkins defense would stand tall and seal the 20–14 victory.
This was the first-ever matchup between Hopkins and CNU. The University’s football team continues to be dominant in the month of September, improving to 47–4 in its 51 games played in the month.
The Blue Jays will play their first road game of the season against Salisbury University on Saturday, September 16 at 2 p.m.
