Senior quarterback Hewitt Tomlin completed 19 of 33 passes for 243 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Johns Hopkins University to a 41-0 victory over host Moravian College in Centennial Conference action at Rocco Calvo Field Saturday afternoon.
The Blue Jays, who received votes in this week's D3football.com Top 25 Poll, improve to 3-0 on the season and 2-0 in conference play while the Greyhounds, who were playing their first home game of the season, fall to 0-3 overall and 0-2 in Centennial Conference action. Moravian will hit the road again next Saturday, September 24th for a conference game at Dickinson College.
The Greyhounds received the opening kickoff and picked up a first down on a pass from junior quarterback Matt Johnson to junior wide receiver Rocco Del Priore but the drive stalled and junior Tyler Thompson came on to punt for the first of ten times in the game.
JHU started its initial possession of the game at its own 36-yard line, and the Blue Jays needed eight plays to cover the end zone with back-to-back 11 yard runs from junior running back Jonathan Rigaud. Sophomore kicker Richie Carbone added the extra-point to put Johns Hopkins 7-0 with 8:29 left in the first quarter.
Moravian went three-and-out on the next possession before Thompson punted again.
The Blue Jays would need just one play to extend its lead with Tomlin hitting sophomore wide receiver Daniel Wodicka with a 74-yard catch and run. Carbone's extra-point was wide left to set the score at 13-0 with 6:23 remaining in the first quarter.
The teams would trade punts over the next nine drives before Johns Hopkins took over at its own 11-yard line with 4:01 to go in the second quarter. The Blue Jays put together a seven-play, 89-yard drive with Tomlin hitting junior wide receiver Scott Cremens with a 41-yard touchdown pass. Carbone's PAT extended the JHU lead to 20-0 with 1:42 before the intermission.
The Greyhounds final drive of the first half ended on an incomplete pass by Johnson into the end zone on fourth down as time expired.
JHU opened the second half by driving into Moravian territory at the 23-yard line before the Greyhounds would force an incomplete pass to take over on downs.
Moravian faced a fourth-and-eight on their first possession of the second half before Thompson ran a fake punt for 19 yards off the right side for a first down. However, Johnson was intercepted three plays later by Blue Jay senior defensive back Sam Eagleson.
After the interception, the Blue Jays started from their own four-yard line and would get two first downs before punting. Moravian would go just three-and-out on its next possession with Johnson being injured on the second play of the drive.
JHU started at its own 43-yard line and would go 57 yards on eight plays with junior running back Scott Barletta scoring on a one-yard run. Carbone made the Blue Jays' lead 27-0 with 3:46 to play in the third quarter.
Sophomore quarterback Robbie Moyer came into the game for Moravian and picked up 27 yards on the first play of the drive. On the next play, Moyer was sacked from behind by JHU junior defensive back P.J. Caufield and fumbled. Junior linebacker Taylor Maciow covered the ball at the Moravian 25-yard line.
Tomlin needed just five plays to the Johns Hopkins back in the end zone with a six-yard scoring pass to Cremens. Carbone would add another extra-point to push the lead to 33-0 with 55 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Moyer was intercepted on the first play of the fourth quarter by JHU sophomore defensive back John Arena. This time, the Blue Jays would need nine plays to cover 41 yards to the end zone with sophomore running back Gary Sharp scoring on a one-yard run on fourth-and-goal. Carbone's PAT ended the scoring at 41-0 JHU with 11:21 left in the contest.
Moravian went three-and-out on the next drive but on Thompson's punt, Greyhound sophomore defensive back Dalton Petit forced Johns Hopkins freshman wide receiver Tanner Souza to fumble the ball. Moravian senior linebacker Evan Bauer covered the ball at the JHU 45-yard line. Moyer would get the Greyhounds into the red zone for the first time in the game with a 12-yard run before Moravian turned the ball over on downs on a sack of Moyer on fourth-and-six.
The teams would trade punts the rest of the game before Moravian ran twice to finish off the clock.
Johns Hopkins ran 79 plays for 471 yards including 202 rushing yards on 43 attempts, and the Blue Jays had a 25-11 advantage in first downs. Rigaud finished with 69 yards on 11 carries while senior running back Bick Fazio had 31 yards on seven carries. Barletta added 28 yards and a touchdown on five carries while senior quarterback Tyler Porco added 27 yards on five carries. Wodicka caught five passes for 112 yards and a score while Cremens had four catches for 56 yards and two touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Sam Wernick caught four passes for 24 yards while sophomore quarterback Robbie Matey was three-for-three for 26 yards.
Moravian had 194 yards on 64 plays and had an advantage in time of possession, holding the ball for 30:23. Johnson completed seven of 17 passes for 74 yards and an interception, and he added 49 yards on 16 carries before leaving the game. Junior running back C.J. Billera had 26 yards on seven carries while Moyer added 16 yards on eight attempts. Moyer was also one-for-eight for four yards. Junior wide receiver Ryan Onushco caught two passes for 38 yards while Del Priore had two receptions for 17 yards.
Junior defensive back Adam Schweyer led the Blue Jays with right tackles while senior linebacker Ryan Piatek added seven stops. Maciow had six tackles with one and a half sacks and a fumble recovery while senior defensive back Kale Sweeney added six tackles with one and a half for loss.
Senior defensive back D.J. Wacker led the Moravian defense with a game high 12 tackles while junior defensive back Rees Judge, sophomore defensive back Matt Smith and senior linebacker Stephen Kircher each had seven tackles. Judge added a pair of pass break-ups to go with a half a tackle for loss. Senior linebacker Ryan Hartzell, senior defensive lineman Allen Petros, junior linebacker Jake Hildebrand and junior defensive back Travis King each had five tackles with King and Hildebrand each adding a pass break-up. Petros also had a sack to extend his school record for career tackles for loss to 47 and a half. He is third in school history with 22 and a half sacks.