“Surprise, Surprise, Surprise.” — Gomer Pyle
It wasn’t supposed to be déjà vu all over again Friday night in the second round of the MHSAA post-season playoffs.
But an underdog Kalamazoo United outfit came up with its second straight upset, a 36-20 decision over Hopkins. The Titans a year ago ended Hopkins’ season with a 46-35 verdict, but their star record-breaking quarterback graduated last spring.
Furthermore, United lost its first three games this season and barely squeaked into the playoffs with a 5-4 record. But the Kalamazoo squad, which includes Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Central and Kalamazoo Christian, won five of its last six contests and then upset previously unbeaten Berrien Springs, 16-12.
The Titans now are 7-4 and the Vikings finished at 9-2. United will play against a 10-1 Lansing Catholic team in the next round.
The game wasn’t even three minutes old when Hopkins scored its first touchdown and added a two-point conversion. However, United matched the score at 8-8 less than five minutes later and added another TD and kicked extra point to go up 15-8 late in that first period.
The Vikings came back with another six points in the second quarter on a short run up the middle by quarterback Trevor Smith and were down by just a point, 15-14 at intermission.
Kalamazoo scored another TD late in the third period and added the kicked extra point and Hopkins pulled to within two, 22-20, with a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter when Trey Collins hit Colin Weber with a 25-yard pass.
However, United put its fourth TD of the night on the board with only about seven minutes remaining in the ballgame and nailed its third kicked extra point to widen the gap to 29-20 and force the Vikings into needing two scores for the win.
Instead, the Titans, added another TD to put the contest out of reach at 36-20.
