He's small in stature but has a huge heart.

That was never more evident than in the final minutes of undefeated Hillcrest's improbable 19-14 victory over Murray on Friday night.

The Spartans had scored on a seven-yard run by Jud Sacco with 3:51 to play.

After missing the first attempt but getting a second chance on a penalty, Murray kicker Erik White gave his team a 14-13 lead.

Hillcrest miscues on the ensuing series left the Huskies deep in their own territory and facing a fourth-and-19th situation with time running out.

That's when the 5-foot-7, 145-pound Koplin went to work.

He somehow found Bridger Dallimore on a 30-yard pass play to get the first down and, with time running out, hit big passes to Coby Brklacich, Kyle Maughn and Dallimore again. Then, with time running out, Kopin scrambled out of trouble and raced in from 11 yards out to give Hillcrest the victory.

That capped a night where Koplin hit 14 of 24 passes for 145 yards and one touchdown and rushed for 85 more.

"I thought we were going to lose in the last two minutes," admitted Koplin. "But we all kept our heads."

Considering that Hillcrest won only two games last season in the midst of a controversy when 22 players quit the team in a dispute with coach Kirk Merhish, there were a lot of smiles after a gutty win.

No one seemed happier than Merhish who allowed five of those players back on the team this year.

"Our kids came back from a really tough situation," said Merish about Friday's win though he could have talked about last year as well.

He said his team's big playmakrs came through in the last two minutes of the game to get the job done.

Hillcrest's defense dominated much of the game. Seconds after Koplin hit Dallimore on a 14-yard touchdown pass, Murray took a 7-6 lead on a 99-yard kickoff return by Dee Hamala.

That held up until early in the third quarter when 5--foot-6, 145-pound Anthony Biven gave the Huskies a 13-7 lead with an eight-yard run. Murray, now 0-2, had its only sustained drive late in the game capped by Sacco's run, but just could not contain Koplin in the final minutes.

wharton@sltrib.com