Hightstown football’s first win is a very big one

Rams top Nottingham, 28-12

By: Sean Moylan
   ÿ8FOOTBALLÿThis past Friday night everything changed for the Hightstown High varsity football team with a 28-12 win over a stellar Nottingham squad.
   "This game was probably the best win I’ve been a part of as a player or a coach," said Hightstown head coach Ed Kopp, whose Rams made the entire CVC take notice with their phenomenal win.
   And yet Hightstown came in and played hard, especially on defense, but the Northstars still managed to take a 12-7 lead into the half. Furthermore another Nottingham touchdown at the start of the third quarter would have been a back-breaker.
   "We were down 12-7 at the half but feeling like we were in the game. The turning point was the first drive of the third quarter, if they had scored there I don’t know how things would have turned out," said Kopp. "But they fumbled and Keith Downs recovered the ball and it took a little wind out of their sails."
   From there Hightstown went on an 82-yard march to the end zone which culminated in a Tim Lawson (31 yards rushing) 5-yard touchdown run with 4:11 to go in the third quarter. Lawson’s score and a subsequent PAT by Matt Fried gave the Rams their first lead of the day and they were intent on keeping it.
   "He (Lawson) cramped up on that play. He was in the end zone writhing in pain and he had no idea he had scored. I went out there to see if he was all right and I said, ‘Timmy, you scored.’ Then he looked up at the scoreboard and said ‘YES!’."
   On the Rams’ next possesSion, Kopp decided to "go for it" on fourth down and his decision paid off nicely as Joe Medici (6-for-11, 59 yards) tossed a 7-yard strike to Joey Schettini (3 receptions for 13 yards) for 6 more points. Lawson would later cap off the game with his third touchdown of the day, another 5-yard run. And Fried booted his fourth PAT in the game without a miss.
   Although what the Rams did in the second half was nothing short of heroic, it was all set up by their extraordinary play before the intermission. And Fried, Lawson and Medici seemed to be in the middle of everything. Fried, who had 10 tackles as an outside linebacker, booted 4 punts inside the 10 yard line, 2 of which landed inside the 5. One of them came right after Nottingham had scored to take an early 6-0 lead.
   After Hightstown stopped Nottingham deep in its own territory, Lawson made a nice punt return to take the Rams down to the the Nottingham 27-yard line. On a 4th-and-2 play at the five, the gutsy Kopp called for a pass and Medici, who was cool as a cucumber the whole game, hooked up with Lawson for a 5-yard score. Nottingham scored soon after to take a short-lived lead but it didn’t matter. Kopp and his staff’s calls were working and the Rams were making plays and executing when they had to do so.
   "We have a lot of experienced players on the team. But two key players who went unnoticed were our two sophomores running backs, Tommy Apgar ( a 35-yard reception and some solid carries) and Greg Krzysiak (who had a great 11-yard run)."
   Hightstown had come in to the season wanting to run and they certainly had success running the football against Nottingham. But when it got inside the red zone, Hightstown was not afraid to put the ball in the air either. Mike Bernazai had nearly 50 yards rushing on just 4 carries.
   "They ended up getting tired because when we had the ball we ended up having long drives," said Kopp, whose team had well over one 100 yards rushing. "The single biggest key was we didn’t turn the ball over."
   This is not exactly a Cinderella story because Hightstown worked very hard this summer to put itself in position to win such contests. Yet by beating Nottingham, Hightstown will now have to be treated with more respect. It is a good football team.
   "A lot of role players players played exceptionally well. This was a team win and the great thing about it is the offensive line played great," said Kopp. "We’re going to take it one game at a time. I want them to enjoy this."
   Following the game the Rams celebrated their great victory and a couple of the players even put together a plot to give Kopp the old Gatorade shower. But Kopp read the half-baked scheme right away and nipped it in the bud. Last Friday night in Hightstown, Ed Kopp had the right answers for everything.
   Hightstown will be at Steinert for an 11 a.m. start this Saturday.