FOOTBALL: Hopatcong Runs Over Kittatinny

Joe Martinek would have approved.

A day after the of Martinek snapping the state's all-time rushing record, Hopatcong's trio of running backs stomped all over Kittatinny in a 43-0 win Friday night.

Chiefs head coach Gary Andolena said Martinek, now Rutgers' starting fullback, visited the team in the spring. "The kids definitely have a close relationship with Joe," said Andolena, whose team improved to 4-2, matching last year's win total with four games left on the regular-season schedule.

Senior fullbacks Austin Brown (65 yards; two touchdowns) and Feyi Olugbenga (147 yards; three touchdowns) combined for 212 yards and five scores for Hopatcong on and senior parents' night. The pair said they were aware of the anniversary, but didn't concentrate much on it. "That didn't enter my head," Brown said. "Kittatinny was in my head."

But it was Brown who may have gotten into Cougars quarterback Kyle Potten's head early. Potten hit wide receiver Cory Zervas with a 68-yard bomb down the left sideline on Kittatinny's second offensive play before cornerback Aric Webster dragged him down at the 6-yard line.

But on the next play, Brown stepped in front of a Potten bullet and returned it 20 yards, swinging the momentum in Hopatcong's favor for the rest of the game.

"Austin's been waiting his whole high school career for that first pick, and he finally got it," said Olugbenga, who also had a team-high six tackles. "That really changed things."

Nine plays later—all rushes—Olugbenga slammed in from a yard out to give the Chiefs a 7-0 lead with 5:47 left in the first quarter. The drive set a tone for Hopatcong, which attempted just a single pass. Sophomore Johann Lara had 151 yards and a touchdown on seven carries.

Kittatinny head coach Jim Green said his boys lost the blocking battle.

"No matter where we lined up they found us, put a hat on us and taught our kids a lesson," said Green, whose Cougars fell to 3-2. "I told our kids we can't do everything with smoke and mirrors. We've got to sometime buckle down and play football."

Green said falling behind quickly hampered the ability of Potten, Kittatinny's best weapon, who finished just 7 of 28 for 160 yards and an interception.

"When you get down by three touchdowns, they're teeing off and they're coming after you," Green said.

Andolena said the win would give Hopatcong considerable confidence heading into Dover next week. Last year, the Chiefs dropped a 26-23 heartbreaker to the Tigers at home.

"[Friday's win] was our best game of the year," the head coach said. "The kids are really believing and building on everything. We've kind of got it going in the right direction."

Hopatcong's running game had one direction on Friday—forward.

After Olugbenga's first score, the Chiefs needed just a play before Lara raced 25 yards untouched into the end zone to give them a 14-0 cushion with 3:19 remaining in the first. Minutes later, Brown rumbled into the end zone for a 4-yard score before Olugbenga sent Hopatcong into halftime ahead, 28-0, with a 2-yard touchdown run.

Olugbenga and Brown credited the Chiefs' rushing success to a new wrinkle added Monday—the splitback formation. Andolena said the adjustment, which allowed Hopatcong to keep two big bodies in the backfield, kept the Cougars guessing.

"It gave us a little more size, a little more physicality," Andolena said.

The second half featured more of the same.

After Webster's 99-yard kickoff return touchdown was called back on an illegal block in the back, Hopatcong's 11-play drive—highlighted by a 39-yard Lara run—ended with Brown scoring from 5 yards.

The touchdown didn't just give the Chiefs an insurmountable lead. It gave them a running clock. New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association rules state the clock only stops on timeouts once a team jumps 35 points ahead.

Then, with the clock racing down, Olugbenga raced down the left sideline 69 yards with 41 seconds left in the third, putting Hopatcong up, 41-0. A botched extra-point snap helped cement the final score, however, as holder Willie Russell scooped up the ball and nailed senior Jon Parker for the two-point conversation.

Olugbenga said the win served as a statement for the Chiefs.

"It says that we're tough and we're not going away," he said. "W'ere in the hunt for the playoffs and we're going to do anything we can to get there."