Next stop is playoffs for Cardinals, MVPs Hopkins, Smith
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KELSEYVILLE >> LJ Hopkins earned MVP honors on offense while teammate Josiah Smith was the MVP on defense as Westshore rolled past the Kelseyville Knights 30-0 in the Jr. Bass Bowl game during junior varsity action Saturday night in the Mendo-Lake Empire Junior Football Lake at Kelseyville High School.
Hopkins, the Westshore quarterback, ran for 184 yards and three touchdowns while Layton Butcher added 77 yards and a TD. Hopkins also went 3-for-4 on his conversion kicks.
Smith finished with four tackles while Gunner Phipps had two tackles and a sack. Other defensive leaders were Hopkins with five tackles and Butcher and AJ Wagner with four apiece.
Westshore built a 24-0 halftime lead on a 42-yard Hopkins touchdown run, a Butcher 35-yard scoring run, and a Hopkins scramble for a touchdown in the closing seconds of the second quarter. Hopkins made the conversion kicks after each of the three first-half scores.
In the second half, Hopkins broke loose on a fourth-and-seven run and outraced the pursuit to the end for a touchdown. The mercy rule came into play at that point.
“My guys came ready to play tonight,” Westshore head coach Jeremy Hopkins said. “It was nice to get off to a fast start. We won the toss and usually defer, but we wanted the ball so we could go down the field and score, and we did just that. It was a great game.”
Added Hopkins of defensive MVP Smith, “He had a killer game. He was in the backfield making it hard for them to get their offense started. He was a dude.”
Westshore finishes the regular season with a 9-1 record and is the No. 2 seed in the league playoffs, which begin next Saturday with semifinal-round games and conclude Nov. 8 with the championship round. Westshore hosts No. 3 seed Lower Lake (7-3) in the semifinals Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Clear Lake High School in Lakeport. Middletown (10-0), the No. 1 seed, plays No. 4 Willits (7-3) on Saturday at Kelseyville High School. Kickoff is 5:30 p.m.
