FOOTBALL: Pequannock Beats Hopatcong

Hopatcong held an early lead, but mistakes and Pequannock's running game doomed the Chiefs as they fell, 23-20, at home on Thursday night.

IN SHORT
Hopatcong was up eight points early in the second quarter following a pair of Austin Brown and Feyi Olugbenga touchdown runs. It wasn't enough. Pequannock chipped away at the Chiefs' advantage and then went into halftime up, 15-14, after an at-the-buzzer field goal. Another Brown score put Hopatcong up, 20-15, but the Golden Panthers responded on the next drive with a touchdown and a two-point conversion to cement the final score.

CHIEF OF THE GAME Feyi Olugbenga only had 18 yards on five carries, but the senior also had a rushing touchdown and two blocked extra points.

TOP CHIEF OFFENSIVE PERFORMANCES
PASSING Ryan Clarke threw for 200 yards.
RUSHING Brown ran for 38 yards on 10 carries and two touchdowns. Johann Lara had 12 runs for 30 yards.
RECEIVING Vinny Marinoni hauled in a 46-yard catch and finished with 98 receiving yards. Brown had 33 yards receiving while Mark Duncan had 16.

TOP CHIEF DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCES
TACKLING Nick Espisito had seven tackles—five solo. Duncan recorded a sack.

THEY SAID IT
"The kids battled hard. Both teams were making plays. They made more than we did in the second half. We had some opportunities to go up big and just didn't finish a couple of plays."—Hopatcong head coach Gary Andolena

"Mistakes are what killed us. We made good plays in both halts. They got away with the lucky field goal and broke the tie and I wish we had a second chance."—Brown

NEXT UP Hopatcong hosts Kittatinny next Friday at 7 p.m.