Hopewell Valley football
By: Jim Green
Not all victories show up in the standings.
The Hopewell Valley Central High School football team finished its second varsity season Saturday with a 21-14 loss to Hightstown at Timberlane Middle School.
Although the Bulldogs suffered their fourth straight loss to finish the year 1-9, all in attendance were witness to just how far Hopewell has come since opening last season with a 41-13 loss to the Rams.
In fact, this time around, the Bulldogs led 14-7 in the second half before surrendering two unanswered touchdowns to fall just short of their second victory.
"We wanted to end the season with a win for our five seniors and for the guys coming back," Hopewell coach Dave Caldwell said. "Hopefully we’ll get mentally tougher. It’s difficult. How do you teach mental toughness?"
One player who showed mental toughness all season was junior tailback Steve Giovacchini, who ended the year in properly fine fashion, rushing 22 times for 102 yards, including a big 32-yard touchdown run in the first quarter that brought Hopewell back from an early 7-0 deficit.
Giovacchini, who had 145 yards and four touchdowns in the Bulldogs’ historic first win over West Windsor-Plainsboro North last month, finished the year with 833 yards and 11 touchdowns, placing him among the Colonial Valley Conference leaders in both categories.
But the player who made the biggest improvement on offense from the start of the season might have been junior quarterback Drew Barnabei. The 6-foot-2, 160-pound signal-caller had never thrown a varsity pass prior to this season, but on Saturday he looked like a seasoned veteran ready to take the next step in 2006. In the first half against the Rams, he completed 9-of-16 passes for 80 yards and a touchdown as the Bulldogs pulled out a seven-point halftime lead.
"Drew’s a good kid, a smart kid," Caldwell said of his quarterback, who finished the day with 84 yards and the season with 483. "I think he did grow a lot."
But the heart and soul of the team was its five seniors, linemen Jim Felix and Alex Pepperman, wide receiver/defensive back Tim Reside, linebacker Peter Teachen and running back John Thompson. With its win over WW-P North, that group is the first Valley public school graduating class with a varsity football win in 72 years.
"You don’t want to lose," Felix said. "But I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything. I don’t define myself as a football player, but it defines what I am. It’s shaped me."
Felix was one of the team leaders of a Hopewell squad that showed tremendous progress over the last two years. In a perfect world, this graduating group would have been able to go out with a win on Saturday, but things don’t always go as planned.
"I wanted it more than anything," Felix said. "I have no doubt everyone left everything on the field."
The Bulldogs had an opportunity to pack it in early, as Hightstown marched down the field easily, scoring on its first possession with a 10-yard run by Sam Salter. But Hopewell showed the same never-say-die attitude it displayed all season, forcing the Rams to punt away their second possession. Junior receiver Joe Benedetto, who had a big day, returned the punt 37 yards to the Rams 34, and, two plays later, Giovacchini took a toss left and exploded for a 32-yard score that tied the game.
Hopewell took the lead on its next possession, going on its most impressive drive of the day, traveling 54 yards in 3:41. Giovacchini had four carries for 19 yards, and Barnabei was 3-for-3 for 28 yards, with all three completions going to Benedetto. The third was good for a 12-yard touchdown up the middle, giving the Bulldogs a 14-7 lead with 9:53 left in the second quarter. It was Barnabei’s third touchdown pass of the season.
Hopewell put together one more big drive as the half came to a close. Barnabei again was on top of his game, completing 4-of-6 passes for 43 yards, as Hopewell moved from its own 43 down to the Hightstown 22. On fourth-and-three from the 22, the Bulldogs tried a 38-yard field goal, but the kicked went just wide left, leaving HoVal with a seven-point halftime lead despite dominating the first two quarters.
The third quarter was a stalemate, with the two teams exchanging turnovers. On Hightstown’s second possession of the fourth, however, the Rams finally broke through, taking just one play to score on a 55-yard run by Henry Appiah. Hightstown then forced the Bulldogs to punt away their next possession. A strong Giovacchini punt made the Rams start from their own 15, but they steadily moved down the field before striking with another big play a 31-yard touchdown bomb from quarterback Steven Ladd to Appiah down the right side.
"It wasn’t a bad play by us," Caldwell said. "They made a nice catch."
That touchdown quieted the home crowd, which all day felt like it was about to see history made for the second time this season. Instead, the Bulldogs went home with another close loss and more lessons learned that should help them next season.
"We return all our skill players next year, except for one," Caldwell said. "It’s all about commitment."

