The Hopkins varsity football team indeed may be looking at its first season not making the post-season playoffs since 2006.
The Vikings lost a 21-20 heartbreaker at Kelloggsville Friday evening in an O-K Silver Conference loss that means probably they will not be league champions nor co-champions this season for the first time in nine years.
It appears that the Vikings fell behind 7-0 in the first quarter and then 21-6 at the half. They scored a touchdown and two-point conversion in the third period to make it 21-14 and then added a final TD in the last quarter, but the conversion attempt failed.
They beat Kelloggsville 22-20 in a similar thriller two years ago, but this time things went the other way.
Junior running back Cyrus Miner scored touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters with runs and eight and 20 yards. The other six came on a surprise 48-yard pass from running back Michael Smith to customary quarterback, sophomore Jason Battjes.
Miner finished the game with 126 yards rushing in 18 carries.
The Vikings yielded 141 yards through the air, with Kelloggsville QB Austin Spratling tossing two TD passes.
Hopkins bested Wayland 34-28 in its season opener last month, but has lost four straight since, to Allendale, Berrien Springs, North Pointe Christian and now Kelloggsville. Its league record now is 0-2 and it is not likely it will catch undefeated North Pointe in the standings.
Futhermore, the Vikings have lost four games overall and would have to win their remaining four games to be even considered for a post-season playoff berth in Division 5. Winning all four remaining contests would be a daunting task because one of the opponents is Montague, an undefeated powerhouse.
