From 'almost a pipe dream' to reality, how the Hopperton brothers ended up at Kent State

KENT — When Hunter and Preston Hopperton announced in early December they would continue their football careers at Kent State, it made waves.

Two brothers from Streetsboro heading down Diagonal Road to Dix Stadium is pretty cool, especially given it has been several years since a Portage County football standout took the field for the Golden Flashes.

It's an even better story given that it's these brothers.

Rockets coach Pete Thompson reflected on their 2021 opener, when Hunter was a high school senior and Preston was a sophomore. That was the day, way out in Girard, when many in Portage County learned who the Hopperton brothers were as they combined to score four touchdowns. Thompson remembered the sophomore's first touchdown and the way his older brother ran over and lifted him in the air, yelling, "I love you, man."

“Hunter was the biggest cheerleader for Preston,” Thompson said. “A lot of times, older brothers will [act like], ‘You're not better than me. You're never going to be as good as me.’ It was never like that with those two. Hunter constantly would tell us even when Preston was a freshman or sophomore, like, ‘He's way better than I [am], he's going to have a much better career than I will.’”

Now, those brothers — those best friends — are back playing for the same team.

"It was almost a pipe dream at the beginning, like coming out of high school," Hunter Hopperton said. "My mom would be, like, 'I want to see you two play again, like, it's got to be like that at the different levels,' and we're, like, 'Yeah, Mom, that's tough, especially going into the level we're going in at.'"

Tough but not impossible.

In the midst of a senior season in which he put up video game-like numbers for the Rockets, Preston Hopperton began attracting interest from the Flashes. Meanwhile, Hunter Hopperton, after an injury-plagued sophomore season at the University of Rhode Island, entered the transfer portal.

Two tracks were destined to meet in that old railroad hub of Kent.

“You want to take guys that want to be where you are,” Kent State tight ends and inside receivers coach Mark Carney said. “It was very evident in the recruiting process that both of the young men had a passion for Northeast Ohio, had a passion for their hometown and Streetsboro, their high school, and wanting to build something special in Kent State.”

From Portage County to New England and back for Hunter Hopperton

Hunter Hopperton nearly went to Kent State two years ago.

The Golden Flashes offered Hopperton and he said he was all set to commit when they took another player at his position.

“That's the name of the game,” Hopperton said. “That's how it happens, so I wasn't upset at all."

Hopperton moved on, committing to Lafayette — a Division I Patriot League school in Pennsylvania. When the coaching staff at Lafayette was fired, Hopperton ventured to the University of Rhode Island.

As a freshman, he appeared in all 11 games on special teams and was set to take on a bigger role for the Rams as a sophomore. But, in Rhode Island's last scrimmage, he dove for a pass and landed on his knee. Although the injury wasn't as serious as he originally feared — a grade 2 PCL sprain and grade 1 MCL sprain — he missed several weeks and never received his anticipated expanded role.

"It's unfortunate but, at the end of the day, you can't worry about stuff like that because you can only control what you control in the world," Hopperton said. "So I kind of just took it, and, honestly, it's weird to say, but I'm very appreciative of it because I feel like it gave me more of an appreciation to be able to be out there."

Before his sophomore season, Hopperton had chatted with his younger brother about joining him at Rhode Island. His injury, role change and a bit of homesickness prompted him to enter the transfer portal.

Upon hitting the transfer portal, Hopperton held the same appeal as two years earlier — as an athletic, strong tight end who "can be an in-line guy" or "a move guy," per Carney.

“The muscles jump out at you, right?” Carney said. “He can bench press a small family house and [he’s] a strong, strong, strong kid. The position flexibility that he brings and where we're moving offensively, we felt like it was a guy we couldn't pass up.”

The rise of Preston Hopperton

Four touchdowns in his first varsity start.

Two straight seasons of 1,700-plus total yards to begin his varsity career.

It seems crazy to say, but Portage County hadn't seen the best of Preston Hopperton entering his senior season.

Not after a torn meniscus kicked off an injury-addled junior year for Hopperton. Remarkably, he was able to play through the meniscus tear. Similarly, an ankle sprain toward the end of football season only kept him out for a game. His hamstring proved more problematic, as he pulled it five times from January to June, greatly impacting his junior year of track and field and putting his senior season in jeopardy.

“The hamstring was the worst out of them all," Hopperton said. "That would put me out for weeks and I couldn't run. It was really stressful not knowing my senior year if I’m going be able to make it or not.”

Doing his own research, Hopperton realized that after he tore his meniscus, he stopped doing back squats, which had been his "main source of lower back exercise." Hopperton found new lower back exercises to do, then went out and put up a season for the ages.

He averaged nearly a first down per carry, turning 179 rushes into 1,661 yards and 31 touchdowns. He also had 1,009 receiving yards — 21 per catch — and 13 TD catches.

“Definitely I can't take all the credit,” Hopperton said. “I got to give it to the people who always block for me. That's one thing I always give it to after every game, but it definitely was exciting to be able to perform at my highest level without injury and it definitely felt more free and relaxing week [to] week.”

Watching Hopperton's tape, Carney saw a player who has "a really good game that translates a whole bunch of different ways."

As he got to know Hopperton, Carney discovered a player who wasn't going to rest on his laurels — as impressive as they are — given "his motivation to get better" and "continue to grow his game."

"We're going to start him at slot and see where it goes," Carney said. "You want to take really good football players that impact the game regardless of the position."

Comfortable in Kent

Hunter and Preston Hopperton grew up in Streetsboro, but Kent was always a part of their lives. Indeed, their father would tell them, Hunter recalls, "You guys want to go hang out somewhere, go hang out there."

The brothers are comfortable in Kent and comfortable together.

For Hunter, it's a chance to return home after two years of his parents driving nine hours to Rhode Island for Rams games.

“It's awesome,” Hopperton said. “It's like you go from being extremely uncomfortable to being very comfortable, and I'm excited to see how that affects not only my game play, but just mentally how everything pans out.”

It's also a chance to help his younger brother make the jump to college football, just as he helped Preston acclimate to high school.

“Being able to pass on the knowledge I have for him so that he will be miles ahead [of] where I was coming in, it's a good feeling,” Hopperton said. “Because I've always said, 'I don't care, I'll be a good football player, I'll be good at whatever I do in life, I'm more worried about being a good person.’”

The brothers are already hard at work.

Indeed, Carney said they've been texting him constantly, asking what they're allowed to do.

“He'll sharpen me up,” Preston Hopperton said. “I'll hold the bag for him, take those big blows, so I think it'll all be worth it in the end. I think God's got a plan.”

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: The Hopperton brothers hop from Streetsboro to Kent State football