By: Sean Moylan
All last week Ed Kopp was enthusiastic and inspiring and had his Hightstown High football team believing it had a chance to beat Middletown South last Friday night in Lincroft.
But sometimes in football an opposing team is so strong and so fast, no amount of preparation or coaching will make a difference in the final outcome of the contest.
Such was the case on Friday as the mighty Eagles soared to a 42-0 win over the Rams.
"They came out and punched us in the mouth. They keyed on Kenny (Amponsa). They had a lot of film on us and they took away the meat of our offense," said Kopp. "We didn’t expect them to be as fast as they were (speed is the hardest thing to distinguish on tape). We had some things set up, but by the time our runners hit the line they were there."
While a Joe Schettini 11-yard catch and a couple of decent runs by Tommy Apgar (2 carries for 9 yards) were Hightstown’s lone offensive highlights, it was a slightly different story on the defensive end.
"Defensively, we hung in there and we held their big guy Dave Dosil to 65 yards (on 16 carries)," said Kopp.
Hightstown defenders forced four turnovers, including three forced fumbles by Marc Wargo, who also had a pair of sacks. Rams’ outside linebackers Matt Fried and Matt Stinson also played very well and made several tackles. The only reason the Eagles were able to score so many points is they were started nearly all of their offensive possessions with great field position.
"Maybe some of the magic wore off on us," added Kopp, whose team won the Valley Conference after just three games and started the year at 5-0. "We don’t have any regrets about the season. If you told me at the beginning of the season that we’d be 6-4 and lose in a playoff game versus Middletown South (a team which recently had a 42-game winning streak snapped), I would have taken it."
This year Hightstown had 24 seniors and several great veteran players like Amponsa, Schettini, Tim Lawson and Joe Medici to lean on. But the 2006 Rams were more than that.
"The chemistry was there. Everyone knew what their role was and did it to the best of their ability," said Kopp. "It’s not just the superstars that make up a team. It’s all the little guys. Games are won from Monday to Thursday."
Hightstown will graduate nine starters on offense and seven on defense. Still, with Fried, Stinson, Apgar and Jimmy Nobles all scheduled to return, Hightstown has a strong nucleus for next season. Nonetheless, Kopp and Hightstowns’ fans will never forget what Wargo, Ricky Waller, Nick Vitale, Medici, Amponsa, Mike Bernazal, Schettini, Dan Ratner, Lawson, Corey DelaCruz, Bryan McGuinn, Chris Mejia, Stephen Ladd, Bryan Wickizer and eight other seniors gave them this season. They gave them their best. After a tough 2-8 campaign in 2005, this year couldn’t have been a more enjoyable one.

