Senior Night didn’t turn out as well as expected for the Hopkins High football team Oct. 16.
Edina rolled to a 56-0 win over the Royals with junior quarterback Mason West throwing five touchdown passes. Edina finished the regular season with a 6-2 record while Hopkins finished 3-5.
Next for the Royals is a first-round state Class 6A playoff game at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25, at Lakeville North.
“The injury bug has bitten us hard,” Hopkins head coach Chauncy Williams-Barefield said after the Edina game. “We hope to get some of our injured players back for the Lakeville North game.”
Edina, which finished second in the state Class 6A playoffs last season, overwhelmed Hopkins with precision passing in the Oct. 16 game. West threw five touchdown passes, four of them to his favorite receiver, senior Meyer Swinney.
“I respect Edina,” coach Williams-Barefield said. “They keep it simple on offense. Their quarterback gets the ball out quickly to their talented athletes.”
Although Hopkins didn’t score against Edina, the Royals were able to make some first downs on passes by quarterbacks Dylan Caspers and Tre Moore and on runs by Desmond Moody.
No matter what happens in the playoffs, Hopkins is in the midst of its best season in four years. The Royals snapped a 29-game losing streak early in the season with a 22-21 victory over Eastview. They followed up with a victory over Burnsville, and then set a school scoring record with a 57-50 victory over Park of Cottage Grove.
Williams-Barefield and the rest of the coaching staff have instilled pride and helped the players believe that Hopkins can have a winning football program. The new head coach relies heavily on his staff, which is led by offensive coordinator Bryan Cupito and defensive coordinator M’Angelo Harris.
During the Senior Night ceremony Oct. 16, Hopkins pride was the emphasis. Each of the seniors was introduced along with family members. There are 19 seniors on the varsity roster, so the ceremony to honor all of them extended past the normal halftime of 15 minutes. Applause was generous and appreciated by the players, who helped the Royals restore dignity with several impressive wins.
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