Football – Westwood QB Sean Hopkins has 6 TD’s in win

The Westwood junior quarterback ran for four scores, threw for two more and had an interception as the Cardinals took down Waldwick/Midland Park, 42-12, in the first round of the North 1, Group 2 playoffs.

“I guess [we’re] pick your poison, because we have a three option kind of thing, we have running backs that can run, we have receivers that can catch the ball and I guess I can run pretty good too,” said Hopkins. “Teams can’t stop all three.”

After a strong start, the Warriors discovered that reality. Key on Hopkins and one of the other Cardinal backs can find an opening. Gang up to stop the run and Hopkins found plenty of open targets.

Hopkins, a first-year starter, also had one of those nights where everything he threw seemed to hit the right spot and every cut he made led to open green turf. He deflected the credit though.

“Especially in the second half, the ball was going exactly where I wanted it to go. Once again, I wouldn’t have had the time if it wasn’t for the linemen,” said Hopkins. “And the receivers adjusted great to the ball in the wind.”

The win was Westwood’s seventh in a row, and also the first time in four weeks they won a game by more than one point.

“We’ve battled all year, ever since River Dell, that was a tough one, and we have played well, and give some credit to the other teams we have played,” said Westwood coach Dennis Hard. “Englewood is a good team, it’s hard to believe they aren’t in the playoffs, Lincoln could win the Central bracket and Ramsey played real hard with us.”

The Warriors took the opening kickoff and drove 65 yards into the wind in nine plays, with Garrett King connecting on a 38-yard pass to Sean Fitzpatrick, who made a one-hand grab and took it over the goal line. King pushed the point after wide.

The rest of the half belonged to Hopkins. The Cardinals took advantage of good field position after a poor Waldwick/Midland Park punt into the wind, moving 33 yards in five plays. Hopkins ran 19 yards on a quarterback draw down to the Warriors’ 3, then dove in from the right side two plays later from the 3.

A sack by Brandon Brown stopped the ensuing Warriors possession and Westwood moved swiftly again, helped by a Warriors holding penalty on third-and-10 that put the ball on the Warrior 26. After a short pass to Sean McKay and an incompletion, Hopkins took off again, finding a crease in the middle of the field and going 22 yards for his second score.

“The day they put out the bracket, once we saw we were playing Waldwick, we knew we wanted them,” said Brown. “We knew we wanted to play them. We weren’t scared at all. We were ready to play.”

Westwood made it three straight possessions with a touchdown with 5:32 left in the half as Hopkins connected on a 16-yard pass to Ryan Visich. That score was set up by a 36-yard run by Dylan Rekucki.

Waldwick/MP had a chance to draw closer just before halftime, but King’s pass into the end zone was intercepted by Anthony Corrubia with 1:04 left. The Warriors had driven to the Westwood 8.

“That was huge, because otherwise it was a 21-14 game at halftime, and they’re right back in it,” said Hard. “He’s a sophomore, he started last week and he’s done a real good job for us.”

Hopkins scored on a 10-yard run in the third quarter, then connected on a 30-yard touchdown pass to Sean McKay, who made an outstanding grab over two Warrior defenders. Westwood (8-2) went up 42-6 on a 29-yard run by Hopkins, his fourth of the game with 3:20 left in the third quarter.

The Cardinals will get the winner of today’s Pompton Lakes-High Point game in the sectional semifinals. They will enter as one of the hottest teams left in North Jersey.

“The first game against Mahwah, it was a tough loss, we were still not an experienced team, I can definitely say, I was not nearly as experienced and had the smarts to understand the game better,” said Hopkins. “The rest of the team too, we have just matured now and you can see it every single game.”