I always love coming to Merner Field in Hopewell because you always get two things... the small town feel and you feel like you are walking into the past when you approach the walls of Merner Field.

I was undecided on this game when I was thinking where to come but boy am I glad I chose this one. While many thought Hopewell would literally run over Dinwiddie, they could not have been more wrong.

Dinwiddie got off to a 13-0 start and it honestly could have been more than that if the Generals had not had to settle for two Justin Davis field goals. Hopewell was to receive the opening kickoff but a squib kick by Dinwiddie turned the tables on this.

Dinwiddie early played exceptional defense against a Hopewell team that has been scoring at a rapid rate. The Generals executed and made big plays on offense challenging a stout Hopewell defense.

Most like to relate football games to fights and if that is the case, this was an example of the Generals hitting Hopewell in the face, drawing blood but not finishing them off... For with less than a minute to go in the first half the Blue Devils went simple instead of trying to work the passing game. The Blue Devils went with what works and TreVeyon Henderson got to work scoring the first touchdown of the game for the Blue Devils. The Blue Devils fought back and their punches would not relent.

In the second half it was role reversal. Hopewell played the better game outscoring Dinwiddie 29-7 with TreVeyon Henderson again torching the field on the ground game. The defense played better and while the Generals never were really out of it till the end, you could feel the momentum shift in the third quarter.

At the end of the game Hopewell had secured a 35-20 win and improved to 7-0 on the season.

Dinwiddie on the other hand finds themselves 3-4 and still not a lock for the playoffs.

The first quarter honestly belonged to Dinwiddie.

It began with the squib kick which Dinwiddie recovered and which the Generals translated into a 50-yard scoring drive... or so it would seem. The touchdown pass from Brenton Hilton to Kelmari Brown was called back for a penalty.

Hilton left no doubt on the second Generals possession scoring from 49 yards out on the keeper to give the Generals an early 7-0 lead.

While the offense was having success against the Blue Devils, so too was the defense.

Dinwiddies defense held Hopewell to two 3 & outs in the first quarter and Cornell Luccess came up with a sack on quarterback Joe Elaides and Kelmari Brown who scored on the touchdown that was called back nearly picked off Eliades.

Dinwiddie's play on defense carried over into the second quarter with another 3 & out of the Blue Devils and Desmond Green broke up an Joe Eliades pass.

On offense the Generals had two scoring drives, just not for touchdowns.

Dinwiddie had a 63-yard drive shortly into the second quarter but unable to overcome a penalty, the Generals settled on a 40-yard Justin Davis field goal.

The next Dinwiddie possession was a 62-yard drive that honestly should have been a touchdown. The Generals had the ball 1st & goal at the Hopewell 9 and got to the 7 on a Robert Barlow run. The Generals abandoned the run however and went to the pass and failed on two incomplete passes making it 4th & goal from the 7. Just Davis came out and hit the 23-yard field goal to make it 13-0 in favor of the Generals.

On Hopewell's second possession of the quarter things began to change. A 65-yard drive was highlighted by TreVeyon Henderson and Kaiveon Cox splitting duty carrying the ball with Henderson taking the bulk of the action. The Blue Devils faced a 4th & 1 from the 30 and Henderson did the rest scoring with 57 seconds to go in the half. The PAT was blocked but the Dinwiddie shutout was over and the Blue Devils were back in it down 13-6.

To make matters worse for Dinwiddie, Robert Barlow fumbled on the kick return and Hopewell got the ball back. The Blue Devils got as close as the 17-yard line but were unable to convert another fourth down and that is how the half came to a close.

It was an up and down third quarter for the Generals...

Dinwiddie began with being held to a 3 & out by Hopewell.

The Generals next possession was lost when the Generals fumbled on a third down pass that was caught and lost following the completion.

The Generals then put it together to tie the game after falling behind for the first time in the game with a 58-yard drive. Robert Barlow had a big return of 35 yards to shorten the field and quarterback Brenton Hilton made many plays on this drive with a 6-yard pass and a 15-yard run but none bigger than the 7-yard run to the end zone with a little over 2 minutes to go in the quarter.

Hopewell on the other hand was picking up where they left off in the second quarter. TreVeyon Henderson scored twice in the third quarter capping a 71-yard and 63-yard drive. Those two touchdowns pushed Hopewell ahead for the first time but with Brenton Hilton's touchdown run the lead would not hold for long.

TreVeyon also had a huge 65-yard kick return but moments later Robert Barlow intercepted Joe Eliades in the end zone to squash the Blue Devils threat of another score.

The 4th quarter was defined by two Hopewell scoring drives and the Hopewell defense.

Hopewell put together a 55-yard drive in the fourth quarter but this time it was Kaiveon Cox scoring with TreVeyon Henderson on the sidelines due to a cramp following a big run to put the Blue Devils in scoring position. Cox followed this up with a 2-point conversion to make it 28-20 in favor of Hopewell.

Cox was not done menacing the Generals as he was in on two tackles on the Generals final possession of the night. Cox also intercepted a Brenton Hilton pass on the ensuing Generals possession following his touchdown and 2-point conversion.

TreVeyon scored his 4th touchdown of the night from 41 yards out to cap a 55-yard drive after the interception of Dinwiddie. That made it a 35-20 lead for the Blue Devils, their biggest lead of the night.

Dinwiddie got the ball back with about 5 minutes left and Robert Barlow and Brenton Hilton got the first down needed to extend the drive but on first down Anthony Hale got to Hilton for the sack. Cox came up with a sack of his own on Hilton on 2nd down.

Dinwiddie's night effectively was ended by the Cox sack. That made it 3rd & 17 for the Generals and on that play Dinwiddie was called for holding for which Hopewell declined. 4th down, the Generals could not convert and Hopewell could merely run out the clock.

Much of the Dinwiddie offense has centered around Robert Barlow this season and for good reason, he has had a stellar season. On this night however I came away more impressed with QB Brenton Hilton's play. Hilton was 14 of 16 passing for 116 yards and while he did not have a touchdown pass that stood, he did have one that was negated by a penalty. He also had the only Dinwiddie touchdowns of the night while amassing 121 yards on the ground.

How can you not go with TreVeyon Henderson on the Blue Devil side of the ball? Once the Blue Devils began feeding him the ball on a consistent basis nearing the second quarter he was a man possessed. 217 yard on the ground on 19 carries, he scored 4 touchdowns for the Blue Devils for another banner night.

In speaking with Coach Irby following the game Friday night, I asked him how he and the Blue Devils dealt with their early deficit. Coach Irby described the game as a "gut check" moment. The team had not faced adversity to this point and although down early, Coach Irby never saw any panic in his team.

The Blue Devils made adjustments, they stopped focusing so hard on Robert Barlow as that burned them with the big plays of Brenton Hilton.

Coach Irby gives all credit to Dinwiddie for pushing them, "they came ready to play tonight!".

Hopewell wins back-to-back games against Dinwiddie for the first time since 2004-2005 season.

35 points scored by Hopewell was the most for the Blue Devils against Dinwiddie since their playoff game in 2012 when Hopewell scored 47.

Hopewell is 7-0 for the first time since the 1969 season!

Dinwiddie has 4 regular season losses for the first time since the 2011 season.