In a back and forth match between two of the best teams in the state, Crush ultimately lost 13-14 to Hopkins April 19. 

According to head coach Spencer Hagen, Hopkins was a tough opponent and Crush had to come into the game ready to play hard from start to finish. 

“They’re one of the best teams in the state and one of the best teams in the country so I knew that we had to come out playing hard and with intensity,” Hagen said. “We started off very strong and I knew they’d claw their way back into the game, which they did.”

Senior varsity captain Beau Finley said he believed Crush went into the game with hesitance and that in future games, the team needs to focus on coming into the game with a better mentality.

“Hopkins is one of the best teams in the state, so we definitely came in very apprehensive,” Finley said. “That’s something we need to work on, going into our games without any preconceived ideas of the other team and to go in strong and play hard until the game is over.”

According to senior Luke Walsh, Crush came out strong, but slowly lost their lead and had to pick it up in the second half. 

“We were off to a really good start but then we began to let off our game, so during halftime we focused on getting back in the flow of things and tried to keep working hard,” Walsh said.

Finley said the team lost momentum in the middle of the game but after halftime, Crush slowly inched back into it.

“We came out really strong but towards the middle we got too comfortable and they took advantage of that, but we definitely brought it back at the end and came back,” Finley said.

“Next time we play them we can definitely take them.” 

According to Hagen, during halftime the team focused on playing on their own terms rather than how Hopkins does.

“During halftime, we focused on talking about strategic things, stopping them from going upline and taking deep looks, but the biggest thing for me was to continue to play our game and not try to beat them in their game,” Hagen said.

According to Finley, creating momentum to try and spark energy was a priority to create a comeback in the second half.

“Morale was one thing we were focusing on so we needed to keep playing hard, even if we were up, we needed to keep giving our all,” Finley said. “Micah (Davis) and I came out with a bunch of layouts in the second half to keep everyone hyped so we could sway momentum to our side and get our heads back in the game.” 

The next ultimate game is at 6:00 p.m. April 28, at the stadium against Apple Valley