Eagles give Royals a rude welcome to Suburban District
Apple Valley's offense came out of the locker room on fire in both the first and second half, and the Eagles' defense dominated all four quarters to key a 27-7 opening week victory over Hopkins.
The Eagles started their home opener in style taking a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.
The defense came up with the first of five turnovers with an interception in Hopkins' territory. Senior linebacker Chris Antholz dropped into the flat and got his hand on a Hopkins pass. The tipped ball fell into the waiting arms of fellow linebacker Jackson Green. Starting on the Royals' 30-yard line quarterback Tyler Cardella converted a fourth-and-short to set up the first touchdown of the game. On a third-and-14 play, Apple Valley went ahead on a Cardella to Nathan Macho wide receiver screen from 20 yards out.
The Eagles' offensive line took control later in the first quarter. Running back Kellan McKeag scored on a sweep that covered 49 yards, running behind Spencer Rolland, Riley Hansen, Jon Erickson, Logan Wangerin and Jacob Yang. Those five moved the smaller Royals' front seven to grind out a pair of first downs and then sprung McKeag on the long touchdown run.
“We were able to control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball,” Apple Valley head coach Chad Clendening said. “That is always the key. It starts there and when you can get into longer down and distances on defense that is what we work for.”
Antholz set up his teammate's interception in the first quarter, but he would do it himself in the second quarter. Defensive back Josh Arnold stopped Hopkins' final drive of the first half when he intercepted an underthrown ball on the last play of the first half.
Hopkins outplayed the home team in the second frame, but whenever they looked like they were gaining momentum, the Royals would make a mistake.
Three big plays were called back because of penalties. When Hopkins penetrated deep into Apple Valley territory, they fumbled quarterback/running back exchange on fourth down to give the ball back to the Eagles.
The second half started much like the first half – with the Eagles' offense rolling. Cardella was sharp with throws underneath to get the offense moving. Cardella would get loose on a quarterback draw to finish off the drive with a 15-yard touchdown run.
“We stress the first five minutes and the last five minutes of every half,” Clendening said. Coming out and getting a score coming out of the half was a huge momentum boost for us.”
Most of the Eagles' starters would start to be rotated out after Cardella scored his second touchdown with a 28-yard run up the middle late in the third quarter. Arnold would intercept his second pass of the game to account for the Eagles fifth and final forced turnover of the evening.
Hopkins would avoid the shutout with a touchdown pass halfway through the fourth quarter to make the final score 27-7.
