CLHS alum nails 38-yard field goal in Florida State win over Florida

Clear Lake High School 2008 grad Dustin Hopkins started Florida State on the right foot in the game against its archrivals, the Florida Gators, on Saturday.

Florida State struck first on its first drive of the game, using seven plays to drive 46 yards in 2:22. The drive ended when Dustin Hopkins nailed a 38-yard field goal to put the Seminoles (9-3, 6-2) ahead early at 3-0.

The result was a 31-7 stomping over Florida to break a six-year losing streak to their in-state rivals in front of a boisterous crowd of 82,324.

The former Clear Lake star was the consensus top-rated kicker in the country coming out of high school. He was a two-time Texas 5A All-State selection and a USA Today first-team All-American as a senior. Like former FSU standout kickers Scott Bentley and Sebastian Janikowski, Hopkins is a gifted athlete who also contributed to his Clear Lake High School team as a starter in the secondary. He was an outstanding high school student who boasted better than a 4.0 weighted GPA.

Hopkins selected FSU over Notre Dame, Missouri and Kansas State.

The 38-31 loss by North Carolina State to Maryland now pushes the Seminoles into the Dr Pepper ACC Championship Game next Saturday, Dec. 4, at 7:45 p.m. The Seminoles will play Virginia Tech at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

See Dustin Hopkins's Athlete Tracker page