Hopkins, Upper Moreland run over Springfield in District 1-4A semifinals

SPRINGFIELD >> In a District 1-4A semifinal game, the Upper Moreland Golden Bears got a stellar performance from sophomore quarterback Byron Hopkins to beat Springfield 37-14.

Hopkins stole the show on the ground, running for 216 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries in the blowout victory.

“I feel great about my performance,” said Hopkins. “Last time I played on this field, I was at La Salle and that didn’t go too well. I came back here with Upper Moreland, played a good game, and the numbers show it.”

Both teams started a little slow in the first quarter as the score was tied at 0-0 after the first 12 minutes.

However, the Springfield Trojans struck the scoreboard first in the second quarter with a 10-yard pass from Gabe Franzyk to Cam Dennis to go up 7-0.

However, the Golden Bears didn’t take long to respond. After Hopkins ran the ball for 61 yards, Dai-Jahn Dukes took the ball for five yards and a touchdown before a two-point conversion play failed.

Upper Moreland eventually took the lead with Hopkins getting a 14-yard rushing touchdown and a 14-7 lead.

The Golden Bears would not stop there as Hopkins threw a 32-yard pass to Anthony Broderick with three seconds left in the second quarter to extend the lead to 22-7 at halftime.

Both teams managed to score one touchdown in the third quarter before Hopkins capped off the scoring with his third rushing touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter.

Upper Moreland head coach CJ Szydlik was thrilled for Hopkins’ performance in the district semifinal against top ranked Springfield.

“Byron is an elite football player and he’s only a sophomore,” said Szydlik. “So we;ve got two more years with him and the things Byron does doesn’t surprise me.

“He does make some sophomore mistakes like bad checks,” added Szydlik. “But he’s one of the leaders of this football team so this really isn’t a surprise for me.”

“We play in a really tough division with some really good football programs,” said Szydlik about the Suburban One League. “We didn’t approach this game as a four seed. We approached it as we’re in and we’re the last team that they wanted to get in, so we knew that once we got in we were going to win some games.”

With the win, the Upper Moreland Golden Bears advance to the District 1-4A Championship game next Friday against Bishop Shanahan.

“Bishop Shanahan is a large task for us,” said Szydlik. “We’ll throw some stuff against the wall and see if it sticks.”

Upper Moreland 37, Springfield 14
UM 0 22 8 7 -37
SP 0 7 7 0 -14
SP – Franzyk 10-yard pass to Dennis (Hincapie kick)
UM – Dukes 5-yard run (2-pt conversion failed)
UM – Hopkins 14-yard run (Lobban run 2-pt conversion)
UM – Hopkins 32-yard pass to Broderick (Dukes run 2-pt conversion)
SP – Franzyk 2-yard pass to Fluehr (Hincapie kick)
UM – Hopkins 15-yard run (Conlin run 2-pt conversion)
UM – Hopkins 15-yard run (Prisco kick)
TEAM STATISTICS
SP UM
First downs 12 13
Rushing yards 51 293
Passing yards 249 52
Total yards 300 345
Passing 19-40 4-8
Penalties 11-105 11-95
Fumbles lost 0 1
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Upper Moreland: Hopkins 22-216, 3 TD; Broderick 7-60; Dukes 5-18, 1 TD; Cirino 1-(-1). Springfield: Franzyk 14-44; Ebner 2-7; McKenzie 1-0.
PASSING – Upper Moreland: Hopkins 4-8, 52 yds, 1 TD. Springfield: Franzyk 19-40, 249 yds, 2 TD.
RECEIVING – Broderick 2-43, 1 TD; Johnson 2-9. Springfield: Dennis 7-103, 1 TD; Yi 2-37; Fluehr 2-30, 1 TD; Hussie 3-29; Ebner 1-27; Seltzer 1-8; Grantland 1-8; O’Malley 2-7.