Big plays are trouble for Hopewell

FOOTBALL

By: John E. Powers
   The Hopewell Valley High School football team will approach the last two games of its season with an eye toward limiting the big play. That’s what hurt the Bulldogs last Saturday afternoon in a 28-0 loss to Nottingham in Hamilton.
   In a stretch of seven minutes of the second quarter, the Bulldogs (3-5) found themselves down 21-0. The game had been scoreless after one quarter.
   "I don’t think that the score was reflective of the game," Hopewell Valley coach Dave Caldwell said. "I really thought we held our own. But in that stretch of seven minutes we came up empty."
   Nottingham got going when Sawo Viah scored on a five-yard run in the second quarter, then Shaun Connell hit touchdown passes to Kendall Williams and Zach Raymond. The Bulldogs had stopped earlier drives by the Northstars as Steve Giovacchini had a pick and a sack stopped another drive.
   "They converted on a third and 20 that took them down to the one and they converted on their following possession on a first and goal from the seven," Caldwell said. "We need to pick up some first downs and give our defense some help."
   Connell threw for 275 yards. Marcelin Saturne caught five passes for 154 yards. Saturne, who is 6-foot-3, made a leaping catch in the end zone to convert a 30-yard touchdown pass for Nottingham’s last touchdown in the fourth quarter.
   "We had good coverage," Caldwell said. "We had a corner underneath and a safety over the top. But in general, I thought our defense did a good job. It felt like they were on the field for three quarters of the game. Nottingham is good. But they weren’t able to run the ball. It’s the receivers. They have good receivers and they have about six of them."
   Drew Bernabei threw for 106 yards. Giovacchini caught five passes for 51 yards, Fred Neary had two for 19, Ryan Clements had one for 24 and Judah Mathaney hauled in one for 12. Dave Anderson, Zurain Niaz and Kevin Kley had sacks for the Bulldogs, who had a two-game winning streak snapped.
   "They were putting pressure on our quarterback," Caldwell said. "In the second half we had some injuries and at the some point, we had just four seniors on the field. But I thought the effort was there. The kids worked hard. Now we’re hoping to get back to were we where."
   Saturday will be Senior Day at Timberlane Middle School and the opponent will be Steinert, which will bring a 2-5 record with them. Game-time is 1 p.m. Steinert is coming off a 21-14 loss to Notre Dame. The Bulldogs will then await their "consolation" game opponent. That will be played the weekend of Nov. 11-12.