College Football: Stevenson's Momentum Halted in 51-26 Loss

It was the second home game in Stevenson history, and the crowd of 1,744 was into it Saturday despite a 14-7 deficit and a chilly drizzle more appropriate for November football.

Quarterback C. J. Hopson had just pulled off another of the scrambling, flinging touchdown tosses that made him an instant fan favorite a week earlier. King’s College’s lead was cut in half, and the Mustangs were re-energized.

At least until Joe Kirchon led King’s back down the field for another score.

That’s how it went most of the afternoon in the Mustangs’ 51-26 loss. Hopson’s fleeting moments of magic (most of them aided by wide receiver Jae DeShields) were no match for the grinding drives of King’s (1-1) offense.

The jubilation of last week’s overtime victory quickly faded, as the Mustangs (1-2) allowed more than 40 points for the third straight game.

“There’s a learning curve and they learned today that you can’t come off an emotional high like that and come out and be flat,” Stevenson coach Ed Hottle said. “I think that’s exactly what happened, and I take full responsibility for that.”

The Mustangs started their Middle Atlantic Conference opener with two botched snaps and a missed field goal that scuttled scoring chances in the first quarter.

Meanwhile, Kirchon hit on six of his first seven passes on his way to 212 yards by halftime. He finished with 320 yards, 144 of them to Jay Torres.

“He found open receivers and he got the ball where it needed to go,” Hottle said. “We’ve got to be able to make and create plays on the defensive side of the ball.”

To complement Kirchon’s production, a trio of King’s running backs combined for 216 yards rushing.

Still, Hopson (282 yards passing) and DeShields (174 receiving) gave Mustang fans flashes of hope.

On their first touchdown hook-up, Hopson tucked the ball and scrambled right, looking for all the world like he was going to run.

Then he hit the brakes, cocked his arm and hurled the ball downfield to DeShields, who had gotten behind his man.

“What I’m supposed to do (when Hopson scrambles) usually is come back to the ball or block for him,” DeShields said. “In this game, I usually blocked for him. But I went deep once and it worked out.”

Their second touchdown cut the deficit to 31-17 in the third quarter, as Hopson lofted a beautiful pass down the left sideline to DeShields, who split two defenders and ran under the ball for a 64-yard score.

“During camp he really showed himself to be kind of an impact player,” Hopson said of DeShields. “I look to him when we see a mismatch.”

DeShields, a sophomore, has used his speed and Hopson’s improvisational skills to roll up 390 receiving yards in three games, with a 30-yards-per-catch average. Hottle said he fully expects defenses to start keying on that combo in the weeks to come.

The Monarchs couldn’t stop it Saturday, but they didn’t need to as they pulled away in the second half.

There were few bright spots for the Mustangs after DeShields’ second score, but Emmanuel Paul blocked a punt in the end zone for the first safety in Stevenson history in the third quarter.

Jared Jorgenson shared snaps with Hopson in the second half and finished 6-of-10 for 94 yards, including a long touchdown toss in the closing minutes to Jeromie Miller. Miller had nine catches for 137 yards.