Hopatcong Corrals Colts in Football Home-Opener

After last week's 31-0 drubbing from Mountain Lakes, a program with more history than Encyclopedia-Brittanica, Hopatcong's Austin Brown knew his team had to hit the refresh button.

So the Chiefs spent little time discussing the loss. Rather, they went to work planning for Kinnelon, aiming to contain scrambling quarterback Sean Robbins and pound the Colts' defense.

Hopatcong completed half the equation, which was enough as the Chiefs dropped Kinnelon, 23-13, in their home-opener at Hopatcong High School on Sunday.

"We were coming back hard and fast and we're not going to back down from anyone," said Brown, a junior.

Brown scored a pair of touchdowns in the win, while senior running back Jon Ferguson added another. Hopatcong [1-1] also notched a first-quarter safety.

That all of the Chiefs' end-zone visits were a product of the running game wasn't lost on fourth-year head coach Gary Andolena.

"That's going to be our [focus] for the season, and there's nothing wrong with that," Andolena said.

Added Ferguson, "We definitely wanted to pound the ball, and I think we were pretty successful in that."

Ferguson's 103 yards paced Hopatcong's four-man running back committee of Brown, Fayi Olugbenga and Nick Esposito, which racked up 175 total yards to the Colts' 123.

The Chiefs fell behind, 3-0, when Evan Argiriou's 27-yard field goal split the uprights with 6:27 remaining in the first quarter. Kinnelon's [1-1] lead didn't last long.

Soon, Hopatcong cut its deficit to a point when Brown stopped running back Kyle Robbins [48 yards] in the Colts' end zone for a safety. The play softened Hopatcong's disappointment after it couldn't convert from a yard out following Ferguson's 71-yard dash up the right sideline.

Then Hopatcong took over, building a 16-3 lead before Kinnelon hit another field goal just before halftime.

"We really worked hard for this all summer long," senior lineman Derek Walthour said. "Putting in the effort in the weight room really pays off against some big bodies."

Walthour said he was ecstatic to win at home.

"Oh yeah," he said. "We had our whole crowd rooting for us. There's nothing better than playing [on our] home field."

Things got interesting midway through the fourth. On 3^rd-and-10, the pocket collapsed around Sean Robbins, who rushed for 64 total yards. So Robinson rolled left and hit a diving Mike Moratto in the end zone's left corner to make it 16-13 with 5:54 remaining.

Hopatcong went four-and-out on its next possession, but answered back with 1:05 on the clock. After James Braun sacked Robbins on fourth down to give the Chiefs possession, Brown took the ball four plays later and stuffed it in from a yard out, cementing the final score.

"I just buried my shoulders and dug it in," Brown said. "I was definitely confident. I knew my boys were ready to get into the end zone. If I ran hard, I knew we were getting there."

Andolena said he was pleased with the victory. But not with everything.

Andolena said his squad must learn to control the football. Although Hopatcong won the turnover battle, 3-2, with two interceptions and Vinny Marinoni's fumble recovery, Andolena said he wasn't happy with quarterback Tom Vicedomini's first-possession fumble on a handoff, nor was he too satisfied with Ferguson's third-quarter fumble.

"We've got to eliminate our turnovers," Andolena said. "We put the ball on the ground a few times—too many for me."

Kinnelon head coach Kevin White cited turnovers as his team's undoing, too.

"Listen, the ball is a precious commodity," he said. "You've got it treat it like it's treasure. You have to respect that thing. You can't let the other guys put their hands on it. That's all it comes down to. It's a precious, precious thing."

Ferguson took that precious, precious thing and ran into the Colts' end zone to give Hopatcong the lead, 9-3, as 9:59 remained on the first half. AJ Bongiovanni's long interception return to Kinnelon's 6-yard line set up the score.

About two minutes later, the Chiefs' secondary struck again, as Wyatt Gehringg picked off Robbins and brought it to Kinnelon's 1. Brown ripped through Kinnelon's defensive a play later, giving Hopatcong a 13-point cushion.

Next up for the Chiefs? Morris Catholic on Friday at home. Ferguson said he wasn't worried about the short practice week.

"We'll just have to work even harder than we usually do," he said.

And, perhaps, hit the refresh button again.