Spring Break
Kase breaks school rushing record in bowl loss to Catholic
Issue date: 12/4/08
Students at Hopkins often look down their noses at most of our varsity teams simply because they are not supported by the glitz and glamour of a big-time college athletics program. You will never get to see 100,000 screaming fans cheering on Blue Jay Football in a BCS Bowl game on New Year's Day. Yet, Hopkins football gave fans and supporters a small-scale taste of big time college football at Homewood Field on Saturday, Nov. 22 as the Jays competed against Catholic University in the ECAC Southeast Bowl.
Amidst cold and windy wintry weather, both teams would stay close throughout the game. But in the battle of the birds (Cardinals vs. Jays), Hopkins would fall just short of victory, losing 18-17. Despite the loss, junior running back Andrew Kase would break the school's career rushing record.
Both teams earned a spot in the bowl game based on identical 8-2 regular season records. Despite Hopkins being just 40 miles away from Catholic, the two teams had not faced each other since Sept. 8, 1990 (coincidentally, this was current head coach Jim Margraff's first game at the helm.) But Hopkins was well aware of Catholic's high powered offense, which averaged 32.8 points per game during its 10 regular season contests.
"We actually played them in a scrimmage so we knew how good their quarterback and wide receivers were," sophomore Mike Todisco said. "We watched a lot of film and tried to imitate them in practice to prepare us."
The Jays were also dealing with the loss of starting quarterback Hewitt Tomlin, going with Tyler Porco. Porco had been injured early in the season, but felt that he was ready to come in and take control of the offense.
"It was a lot of fun being able to come out and start in the last game of the year after spending a good portion of the season being injured," Porco said. "It took a couple weeks of practice to really get back into the flow of the offense, but our coaches do a great job of making sure everyone is prepared to play whether they are starting or not."
Amidst cold and windy wintry weather, both teams would stay close throughout the game. But in the battle of the birds (Cardinals vs. Jays), Hopkins would fall just short of victory, losing 18-17. Despite the loss, junior running back Andrew Kase would break the school's career rushing record.
Both teams earned a spot in the bowl game based on identical 8-2 regular season records. Despite Hopkins being just 40 miles away from Catholic, the two teams had not faced each other since Sept. 8, 1990 (coincidentally, this was current head coach Jim Margraff's first game at the helm.) But Hopkins was well aware of Catholic's high powered offense, which averaged 32.8 points per game during its 10 regular season contests.
"We actually played them in a scrimmage so we knew how good their quarterback and wide receivers were," sophomore Mike Todisco said. "We watched a lot of film and tried to imitate them in practice to prepare us."
The Jays were also dealing with the loss of starting quarterback Hewitt Tomlin, going with Tyler Porco. Porco had been injured early in the season, but felt that he was ready to come in and take control of the offense.
"It was a lot of fun being able to come out and start in the last game of the year after spending a good portion of the season being injured," Porco said. "It took a couple weeks of practice to really get back into the flow of the offense, but our coaches do a great job of making sure everyone is prepared to play whether they are starting or not."
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