Despite the Rain, Hopkinton Wins Over Norton High

The Hopkinton High football team is pretty good at running straight ahead.

Since Friday’s downpours made Norton High’s Adam Field a quagmire, that was a good thing  for the 6-0 Hillers, who posted a 42-21 win over the Lancers.

“We have some good North-South runners,” said Hopkinon head coach Jim Girard.  “We don’t have great speed side to side. We needed to do that and go straight ahead. There really wasn’t much you  could do here. It was one of those old-fashion, grind it out, ground and pound type games."

Hopkinton only attempted a  handful of passes, but one was the first score of the  game as quarterback Mike Decina found Barrett Hanlon for a 23-yard score. Hanlon  had a big day kicking  the ball in tough conditions with six extra-points.

When Norton got the ball back, the  Hiller defense, which received a solid effort all night from its line,  forced the Lancers to punt. Hopkinton's Alex Hulme turned it into a  47-yard touchdown as he weaved his way through the Lancers for a  14-0 lead.

All night long, the Lancers had trouble stopping the Hillers' long runs. Hopkinton's Ryan Bohlin got into the act at the start of the second quarter with a sprint  up the middle for a 56-yard run.

“They’ve got an excellent team, obviously,” said Norton head coach Ted  Currie, whose team dropped to 2-4 on the season. “Decina and No. 10  (Bohlin)  are extremely tough players.”

Trailing 21-0, in  the driving rain, the Lancers attempted to get right way in the game in the  second quarter. Norton's Brian Way went through a  wide-open hold in the Hillers’ defense for a 10-yard score, followed by an extra-point by Pat O’Malley.

“We gave them a little bit of a different look,” said Currie. “Their down  linemen were absolutely crushing us early. “

Hopkinton came right back with another long run. This time, Decina kept it himself  with a 50-yard touchdown for a 28-7 lead.

Norton answered as sophomore quarterback Mike Ready found James Keating, who  made a nice catch for an 18-yard score, making it 28-14, at the half.

“We got complacent in the second quarter,” said Girard.  "I  give Norton a lot of credit. I know they are a young team, but they had us on our heels for a little bit with some nice  misdirection.  Our guys were getting a little  excited, but they settled down in the second half.”

The only score of the third quarter came when Bohlin broke free for a  39-yard run and a 35-14 lead.

In the fourth quarter, sophomore Nolan Cornu closed out the scoring for the Hillers with a 20-yard  scamper for a 42-14 lead.

The Lancers got on the scoreboard late. Norton’s Mike Travers, a sophomore quarterback, ran for a 5-yard touchdown after a  25-yard pass to Nick Jenkins set up the score.

“It’s definitely building blocks with our young guys,” said Currie. “We found a couple of more that are going to help us going forward.  Hopefully,  we match up nicely with four out of the next five opponents.”

The Lancers will be getting into the Tri-Valley League Small-School Division  part of its schedule, hosting Medfield next Friday night.