Steinert stifles Hopewell for 5th straight

Hamilton >> Miles Smith celebrated his birthday with a redemption touchdown catch and the Steinert defense celebrated its yearlong excellence with one of its best efforts of the season.

The result was a 20-2 Homecoming victory over Hopewell Valley Saturday, giving the Spartans five straight wins heading into Friday’s WJFL Patriot Division showdown at Allentown.

Smith got things started when he made a tremendous leaping grab for a 15-yard touchdown reception from Jordan Morrison; giving Steinert a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter. One play earlier, he dropped what would likely have a been a TD just in front of the end zone.

Smith quickly blew out the candles on his own party, however, saying “We have a bunch of other receivers who could have caught that ball. Roldy Dupont, Sadequl Ali, Joe Swindasz. We’ve got a bunch of good receivers.”

Not every receiver can come back from dropping an apparent TD pass, however.

“Miles doesn’t drop too many,” coach Dan Caruso said. “When he drops one, we have no fear going right back to him.”

That turned out to be the only points Steinert (51) would need, as the Spartans limited HoVal (0-6) to 157 yards of total offense. Most impressive is the job they did on running back Elijah-Blu Wilmott, who got banged up early while playing defense and eventually left the game. Wilmott entered with 392 rushing yards but was held to 4 yards on 12 carries.

“We just wanted to shut down the run,” said Swindasz, who had a standout game at defensive back. “The kid’s a good runner, we had to shut him down early and we did what we had to do. He got hurt a little on the third or second play, and we just powered through him.”

“In my opinion, he’s one of the best backs around here and they just did a great job,” Caruso said. “They’re playing lights out right now.”

Hopewell’s longest play was a second-quarter, 42yard screen pass to Mike Gruner down to the 15. But the defense stiffened and forced a missed field goal. Two plays later, Xavier Thompson broke free for a 79-yard touchdown run in which he out-sprinted two HoVal defenders over the final 20 yards.

“He’s a tough kid, he’s got good vision,” Caruso said. “The fact of the matter is, we knew he was capable of breaking one.”

Thompson finished with 134 rushing yards and caught four passes for 29 yards. Morrison was 8-for12 for 95 yards, with Smith catching four for 66. A 25yard completion to Smith set up three-yard scoring run by quarterback Colin Smith.

Hopewell responded with a drive to the Spartans 1-yard line. On fourth down, quarterback Jack Demareski’s attempt to score was halted by seemingly all 11 Spartans. That ended Hopewell’s hopes although the Bulldogs got a safety on an errant snap on punt attempt.

Hopewell’s bright spot was Steven Doldy, who replaced Wilmott and rushed for 55 yards and had a 22yard reception.

“We just made some mistakes here and there on (Doldy),” Swindasz said. “We gotta fix them.”

Especially with Allentown looming.

“Listen, it’s the toughest game on our schedule, it’s for the division title, there’s a lot on the line,” Caruso said. “They’re a great football team, we know we’ve got to play our best to beat them. We’re excited to go over there, play a Friday night game, which is always fun. It should be a great football game.”

Hopewell (0-6) Steinert (5-1) First Quarter S— Second Quarter S— Third Quarter S— Fourth Quarter HV— 0 7 0 6 0 7

C. Smith 3 run (Falvo kick)

2 — 0 —

M. Smith 15 pass from Morrison (Falvo kick)

Thompson 79 run (kick failed)

Safety, ball out of end zone on punt attempt

2 20