On a muggy night, Hopkins walks off comfortably

 
MINNETONKA, MN - The 2011 high school football season started across the state with plenty of questions and intrigue. Tonight's game in Minnetonka at Hopkins High School left little to no doubt that the Lake Conference from top to bottom, well is there a bottom? The Hopkins Royals (1-0 Overall, 0-0 Lake Conference) only returned a few starters from last season, but of those starters offensively, they scored all six touchdowns on the evening, besides one interception return for a TD.

The scoring started half-way through the 1st Quarter with Senior Wide Receiver Alex Hunter rushing into the end zone for 11 yards. The Apple Valley Eagles (0-1 Overall, 0-0 South Suburban) struggled out of the gate on the ground, but to follow up the Hopkins TD, the Eagles went to the skies. Senior starting Quarterback Matt Thomas decided to connect with fellow 2012 soon to be graduate Wide Receiver Steve Wilson on the first attempt to stretch the field. Thomas found Wilson for about a 27-yard connection down the right-side over the defense and Wilson did the rest of the work streaking down the sideline for a 65-yard total pass play down to the 3 yard line. Two plays later, Thomas dove into the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7-7 with the successful extra-points.

At this point of the game the crowd settled in for what was to be a treat of a ball game to start the season. And the main course that many in the crowd came to see was 6'3" 200lb Senior Wide Receiver Andre McDonald. After a stellar season with the Royals as a Junior, McDonald verbally committed to the University of Minnesota, but after a lot of national attention from recruiters, McDonald is keeping his college options open.

McDonald scored the next two touchdowns in the game with routes that cut back into the center the field and helped both Hopkins Quarterbacks J.T. DenHartog and Andy Wickland out of high pressure situations as an outlet and made them look great on spectacular runs after the catch for touchdowns. The first TD went for 9-yards and the 2nd went a total of 31-yards and made the fans watching both on MnSportsNetwork.com and FOXPreps.com excited for the rest of the season following Andre McDonald's senior season.

The Hopkins Royals led 20-7 after the two McDonald TDs, which included one missed extra-point attempt. Alex Hunter kept his scoring pace up with back-to-back receiving touchdowns. The first of 15 yards, was on the last play of the 1st Half as the clock expired. The second went for 6 yards and brought the score up to 33-9 in favor of Hopkins with 8:27 remaining in the 3rd Quarter. The extra-point attempt again failed. Senior Running Back Romar Daniel scored the sixth and final offensive touchdown of the game after Apple Valley recorded a safety on defense.

The scoring finished with a 20+ yard interception return for a touchdown by Senior Cornerback Thomas Bady late in the 4th Quarter. The Royals looked very strong in this non-conference matchup to start this season winning by a final score of 47-9. They continue their season at home for the next two weeks, welcoming in Top-10 team in Class AAAAA Blaine next week (Friday, September 9th, 2011) and the Irondale Knights in Week 3 (Friday, September 16th, 2011). With the loss Apple Valley will head home and take on conference rival Lakeville North on Friday the 9th of September.

MSBN Players of the Game:
Apple Valley - SR Running Back Garrett Ganskie
Hopkins - SR Wide Receiver Alex Hunter