HOPEWELL TWP. — Following five victories that were all more or less of the blow-out variety, the undefeated Hopewell Valley football team found itself in a position Friday night that it not yet experienced this year. Taking on a quality Seneca team that had won 10 games in each of the last two years while also reaching two sectional finals, Hopewell found itself in a dogfight that seemed very much up for grabs in the third quarter. As it turned out, this was exactly what Hopewell Valley (6-0) needed to get ready for the playoffs because it responded to the challenge in dominating fashion to post a 35-12 victory over the Burlington County team. To set the stage, with Hopewell holding an eight-point lead after the first half, Seneca struck right away in the third quarter when quarterback Anthony Tirico hooked up with Jamar Warthen on a 66-yard scoring strike. This play started with a simple swing pass and after two missed tackles Warthen was off to the races down the left side to reduce the Hopewell lead to 14-12. It appeared Seneca might have very well have the momentum at this point, but it quickly and dramatically proved to not be the case. On the very next play the game turned completely and permanently in Hopewell Valley’s favor as Justin Klotz exploded down the middle of the field and scored on an 82-yard kickoff return. Other than one mini drive in the second half, Seneca was pretty much never heard from again. “It takes time for the wedge to develop, but the blocking was perfect on that play,” said Klotz, who also took the opening kickoff the distance in Hopewell’s last game against Allentown. “We practice that a lot. Once I saw the hole open I knew I could score.” As was the case the previous week, Klotz also struck right away in the first quarter. In this case, he scored on a 61-yard slant pass from Milan Desai on Hopewell’s Valley third play of the game. This gave Hopewell a lead it would not relinquish. Also in that first half, Hopewell scored on a 1-yard sneak by Desai to complete a 58-yard drive in which Ben DeCore ran the ball six straight times. In addition to the kickoff return by Klotz, three other things happened in the second half that allowed Hopewell Valley to pull away. One was it did a much better job of protecting its flanks against the run. Tirico scrambled for 61 yards in the first two quarters, but only had 34 in the second half. Hopewell also did a much better job defending the pass. In the third half, Tirico completed 13 of 21 passes for 126 yards and threw a 5-yard TD pass to Warthen to give his team a 6-0 lead on the game’s opening drive. In the second half, Tirico completed just three passes. The other was Hopewell once again turned DeCore loose to all but kill the clock in the fourth quarter. First, DeCore scored on a 9-yard run to complete a drive in which Luke Caldwell made a spectacular diving catch for a first down. Hopewell Valley then launched an eight-play, 64-yard drive in which DeCore ran the ball eight straight times and scored on a 7-yard sweep around right end to complete the scoring. DeCore ended up with 159 yards on 26 carries as Hopewell’s offensive line continued to get a good push against  a Seneca team had plenty of size in the trenches. “We have a great offensive line,” said Klotz. “They give us time to throw the ball and really run block well.” Another positive for Hopewell was it was able to post this comfortable victory despite missing out on several excellent opportunities to score. In the second quarter, Seneca’s Brody Phillips intercepted a pass in the end zone and Hopewell later missed a short field goal with :04 showing on the clock. Hopewell also put together a long drive in the third quarter that reached the Seneca 3 yard line, only to turn the ball over on a fumble. Next up for Hopewell Valley is a game at Burlington Township, which also improved to 6-0 Friday and has given up just three touchdowns all season. Seneca (4-2) 6 0 6 0 — 12 Hopewell Valley (6-0) 7 7 7 14 — 35 S-Warthen 5 pass from Tirico (snap fumbled, run failed) HV-Klotz 61 pass from Desai (Lengle kick) HV-Desai 1 run (Lengle kick) S-Warthen 65 pass from Tirico (pass failed) HV-Klotz 82 kickoff return (Lengle kick) HV-DeCore 9 run (Lengle kick) HV-DeCore 7 run (Lengle kick)