Nolan Hopson of Hardin Northern breaks a tackle from Demos Watkins of Perry on Friday night at Pete Brunow Field in Dola.
Chris Howell | The Lima News
DOLA — On Friday night against Perry, Hardin Northern played “Brunow ball,” a style of play trademarked by former head coach Pete Brunow, who the field was renamed for during a pregame ceremony.
Brunow, a winner of 221 games over 26 years with the Polar Bears, said his playbook might have had five total plays in it, and four of them were runs.
In Hardin Northern’s 38-15 win over Perry (2-3, 0-3 NWCC), it appeared as if the Polar Bears had one play in the playbook — hand the ball to Nolan Hopson, and it was all they needed.
Hopson exploded for 214 yards and four touchdowns on 36 carries He finished the night with 226 all-purpose yards in the conference victory.
“He’s got really good vision so a lot of those plays come from cut-backs and he’s just fast enough that if he gets a step on you, then he can get to the house,” Hardin Northern coach Jerry Cooper said of Hopson. “There’s a lot of good things for him to take away from this one.”
Hopson scored on a 2-yard run in the first quarter and a 9-yard run in the second. He found the endzone twice in the third, once from 10 yards out and another on a 64-yard sprint with 4:13 left in the third quarter.
Hopson found the majority of his success running behind tackle Wyatt Pore (6-5, 265 lbs) and tight end Bodi Hipsher (6-3, 255 lbs). Cooper credits Hopson’s two biggest blockers for making plays on the second level of runs after getting off the ball on the initial push.
“In the first half, they were just kind of mowing around but in the second half they created some holes, so give those guys some credit too,” Cooper said. “Those guys are big and they can get a push but the key is to get those blocks at the second level. We did a much better job of that in the second half.”
Hardin Northern’s only blemish of the first half was in the final 30 seconds when Perry drove 60 yards on four plays, ending in a 35-yard touchdown from quarterback Hunter Scott to Brodin Eickholt.
Instead of heading to the locker room down three scores, Perry trailed 19-7.
The Polar Bears (4-1, 4-0 NWCC) responded by scoring on their first three possessions of the second half, two were Hopson’s runs and the third was an 11-yard pass from quarterback Xander Wilson to Hopson.
Wilson finished the game with 5 of 10 for 104 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The 6-1 senior also ran for 116 yards on 14 carries.
Wilson’s passing touchdowns went to Dylan Bacon on a 46-yarder late in the first half and Mason Stewart on an 11-yard grab in the fourth quarter.
“From an offensive standpoint, I thought we also threw the ball a little better tonight and that was a positive,” Cooper said. “The negatives are the deep pass plays we gave up. We have the mentality that things like that don’t matter until they do and sooner or later it’s going to matter. We want to get that cleaned up.”
Three of Perry quarterback Hunter Scott’s completions went for 35 yards or more. He ended the game 11 of 17 for 176 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Kaden Guinn picked him off in the third quarter.
The Commodores finished with 246 total yards, 70 on the ground. Isaiah McFadden ran for 58 yards on 12 carries.
“I was really pleased with our run defense,” Cooper said. “We tackled really well and played with very few penalties. If you were to take out their three really long pass plays, it’s a great defensive effort. We’ll see if we can do a little better job of breaking on the ball and making plays in the secondary next week.”
Hardin Northern ended the night with 434 yards of total offense, all courtesy of Wilson (104 passing, 116 rushing) and Hopson (214 rushing, 12 receiving).
Score by quarters
Perry o 7 0 8 – 15
Hardin Northern 6 13 12 7 – 38
Scoring Summary
HN — Nolan Hopson 2-yard run (Nolan Hopson kick failed) — 3:46, 1st
HN — Nolan Hopson 9-yard run (Nolan Hopson kick failed) — 3:34, 2nd
HN — Dylan Bacon 46-yard reception from Xander Wilson (Nolan Hopson kick) — 0:36, 2nd
LP — Brodin Eickholt 35-yard reception from Hunter Scott (Conner Lynch kick) — 0:00, 2nd
HN — Nolan Hopson 10-yard run (Nolan Hopson kick failed) — 7:25, 3rd
HN — Nolan Hopson 64-yard run (Nolan Hopson kick failed) — 4:13, 3rd
HN — Mason Stewart 11-yard reception from Xander Wilson (Nolan Hopson kick) — 10:22, 4th
LP — Colten Scott 39-yard reception from Hunter Scott (Hunter Scott to Boss Horrison conversion) — 5:04, 4th
Passing
LP — Hunter Scott 11/17, 176 yards 2 TDs, INT
HN — Xander Wilson 5/10, 104 yards, 2 TDs
Rushing
LP — Isaiah McFadden 11 carries, 45 yards
HN — Nolan Hopson 36 carries, 214 yards, 4 TDs
Receiving
LP — Brodin Eickholt 4 receptions, 96 yards, TD
HN — Dylan Bacon 1 reception, 46 yards, TD
Total yards
LP — 246
HN — 434
Reach Chris Howell at 567-242-0468 or on Twitter/X at @Lima_Howell
