Sept. 1, 2016
BALTIMORE, MD – Johns Hopkins junior running back Ryan Cary scored three touchdowns in 12 games in 2015. He matched that in less than 16 minutes on Thursday night and went on to tie the Johns Hopkins single-game record for touchdowns in a game before halftime to power the Blue Jays to a 45-29 victory against Washington & Lee.
The matchup, the only Division III football game scheduled for 2016 featuring two teams that posted 10-0 regular season records last season, featured two squads ranked in the preseason top 20 by D3football.com as the Blue Jays checked in at number 15, while the Generals were 20th.
Cary and the Blue Jays needed just 8:23 to jump out to a 14-0 lead as he capped a seven-play, 48-yard drive with a 12-yard scoring run at the 10:19 mark and added another 12-yard touchdown run just under four minutes later to give the Blue Jays the early 14-point lead.
The Generals, who led all of college football in rushing last season with better than 400 yards per game, jumped back in the game as Evan Hinkle and Connor Chess sandwiched touchdown runs of one and 26 yards around a 38-yard touchdown catch by Cary in a five-minute span bridging the first and second quarters. Hinkle's one-yard run polished off a 78-yard drive, while Chess covered the last 26 yards in a 54-yard drive.
Cary's touchdown catch came on a throw-back pass from junior Brett Caggiano, who took a lateral from quarterback Jonathan Germano and found Cary alone on the back side. Cary broke one tackle and eluded several other would-be tacklers inside the 10-yard line for his third score of the game.
Cary capped his four-touchdown evening with an 11-yard run late in the second quarter to make it 28-14 and the Blue Jays covered 60 yards on eight plays to open the second half to push the lead to 35-14. A seven-yard strike from Germano to sophomore Luke McFadden capped the half-opening drive.
Washington & Lee, which amassed 358 of its 418 yards on the ground, drew within 35-21 as Walker Brand answered McFadden's touchdown with a two-yard scoring run on the Generals' ensuing possession, but the Blue Jays put the game away with 10 straight points on the strength of a 13-yard run by sophomore Tyler Messinger and a 19-yard field goal from junior Jamie Sullivan. An eight-yard run by Jimmie Johnson in the final four minutes closed out the scoring for Washington & Lee.
Cary rushed for a career-high 158 yards and three scores and added 69 yards and the one touchdown on three receptions to account for 227 yards on the evening. His four-touchdown performance is the 13th such effort in Johns Hopkins history.
Johns Hopkins' 500-yard offensive output featured 276 yards on the ground and 224 through the air. Germano threw for 174 yards and the one score and rushed for 52 yards. Nine different players had at least one reception for the Blue Jays, who improved to 40-1 all-time in games where they amass 500 or more yards of total offense.
Four different players totaled 10 or more tackles for Johns Hopkins. Seniors Dan Johnson (14), Garrett Spek (13), Jack Toner (11) and Jack Campbell (10) all reached double figures in tackles with the totals for Johnson, Spek and Toner ranking as career highs.
Washington & Lee quarterback Charlie Nelson rushed for a team-high 102 yards, while Chess (74) and Hinkle (57) also topped 50 yards on the night. Max Garrett (15 tackles, one interception) and Michael Shields (14 tackles) led the way defensively for the Generals.
With the victory, Johns Hopkins ran its regular season winning streak to 32 games and its winning streak in the month of September to 24 games. The Blue Jays are now 54-1 in their last 55 regular season games.
Johns Hopkins will return to action on Saturday, September 10 when the Blue Jays travel to Susquehanna for their Centennial Conference opener against the River Hawks.
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