Part of the fun of being a student-athlete at Hopewell Valley is how many friends you get to play with across different sports. Milan Desai estimates that 90 percent of the football team is multi-sport athletes. That feeds into a year-round culture where kids are bonding on different playing fields while also getting stronger in the weight room.
Desai, Hopewell’s starting quarterback, is primed for a big senior season along with the rest of the Bulldogs. “Not just me, but the whole team has a lot more experience this year,” said Desai, who also plays basketball and lacrosse. “I feel like I’ve built a lot more chemistry on the field with all my teammates, so a lot more trust with the receivers, more comfortable with the o-line and the pocket.
All those things obviously just make me feel a lot more comfortable on the field.” Coming off an 8-2 season where Hopewell narrowly missed the state playoffs because of its Opponent Strength Index, the goal is to dominate at an even higher level in 2024. That goal feels more attainable when you return eight starters on offense including your quarterback, running back, two wide receivers and three offensive linemen, plus five starters across every level of the defense.
Desai, who recently committed to Johns Hopkins, stands 6-foot-2 and has bulked up 20 pounds to weigh 190 this season. It’s also his mental growth after starting on varsity for the first time as a junior that could make him a special player this season. “I think the biggest difference from going from JV to my first season on varsity was the mental part,” Desai said.
“I feel like I’ve worked on that a lot, and I feel ready and excited to show that this year.” Admittedly much was new last year for Desai because he didn’t even start playing quarterback until he was a sophomore. The varsity coaches simplified some concepts for him, but now there’s a higher trust factor for them to manipulate defenses more this fall.
“With a whole year of preparing, I feel a lot more confident going into this season,” Desai said. Longtime Hopewell head coach Dave Caldwell expects to expand the playbook for Desai, who passed for 1,522 yards and 17 touchdowns while rushing for 237 yards and nine touchdowns last season. “I think he’s gonna take the next step,” Caldwell said.
“He was a young quarterback last year, had a very good season. I think we’re gonna continue to try to be balanced offensively with him between our run game and our pass game, play-action game, and we’re gonna see if we can actually run him a little bit more, too. He’s pretty versatile.
He’s pretty athletic.” Hopewell’s offense will be running some read-option this fall as well because Desai has the luxury of working with an experienced line led by senior Gavin Lewis, the West Jersey Football League’s reigning Lineman of the Year. “He’s the most versatile lineman in the county,” Desai said of Lewis, who started the previous two seasons at left tackle but also has the flexibility to play guard.
“He can do pretty much anything.” Senior running back Ben DeCore rushed for 1,292 yards and 14 touchdowns last season, and two key receivers for Desai on the outside are seniors Justin Klotz and Owen Lengle. Klotz, a Southeastern Oklahoma State commit, is back after missing his entire junior season due to injury.
His talent is immense as he recorded 1,266 yards and 18 touchdowns during his freshman and sophomore seasons. Lengle, meanwhile, caught five touchdowns as a junior. He also kicks field goals and extra points.
One key departure on offense was tight end John Michael Vlasac, whom Hopewell will look to replace with talented players like junior Luke Hemmer and senior John Ellis. And with experienced standouts on defense such as senior lineman Dan Pszczolkowski, junior cornerback Jude Berman and senior safety Luke Caldwell, Hopewell wants to make a run at the 2022 team, which went 10-1 and won two state playoff games. “We believe that we’re as good as any team in the state,” Desai said.
“We’re just gonna go out, play one game at a time, and hopefully we can end just as good the seniors did in ’22 because I know a lot of those guys we’re still really good friends with, so we always talk with them like, ‘Which team was better?’ and all that stuff.”.
