Oct. 21, 2016
BALTIMORE, MD – Ninth-ranked Johns Hopkins scored on six of its seven first-half possessions to build a 38-0 halftime lead and went on to knock off visiting Gettysburg, 54-14, at Homewood Field Friday night. The victory improves the Blue Jays' record to 7-0 overall and 6-0 in the Centennial, while the Bullets fall to 2-5 overall and 2-4 in the Centennial.
In addition to staying perfect on the season, the Blue Jays also set a Centennial Conference record with their 34th consecutive league victory. The previous record of 33 had originally been set by McDaniel from 1997-2001 before being matched by Johns Hopkins last week and then surpassed with tonight's victory. The 34-game conference winning streak is currently the second longest active league winning streak in the nation (all divisions).
The Blue Jays wasted little time jumping on the Bullets as they scored touchdowns on each of their first three drives to grab a 21-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Junior Ryan Cary capped the first two drives with touchdown runs of four and five yards before senior Boone Lewis, Jr. got behind the defense and senior quarterback Jonathan Germano scrambled and found him alone from 17 yards out to give the Blue Jays the three touchdown lead.
While the Blue Jay offense was building its early lead, the Johns Hopkins defense was harassing the Gettysburg offense into five punts and a turnover on its first six possessions of the game. The Bullets totaled just 46 yards on their first five possessions and 75 on their first six.
After turning the ball over early in the second quarter, the Blue Jays scored on three straight possessions to close the half to build their lead to 38-0.
Gettysburg broke through on its first possession of the second half as the Bullets went 81 yards in 15 plays with Justin Davidov scampering in from the four yard line to get Gettysburg on the board.
Back-to-back touchdowns for Johns Hopkins, the first a five-yard run by freshman Dane Rogerson and the second a seven-yard touchdown pass from Drew Tomaini to Kyle Morris, pushed the lead to 52-7 early in the fourth quarter. The touchdown pass was the first of Tomaini's career and the touchdown reception was the first for Morris.
Davidov quickly moved the Bullets 52 yards on just five plays and answered Morris's touchdown with a 37-yard strike to Ty Abdul-Karim less than two minutes later to make it 52-14.
The Blue Jays recorded their first safety in nearly two years to close out the scoring as Wes Brantner tackled Nick Rella in the end zone to account for the final scoring.
In addition to pushing their Centennial Conference winning streak to 34, the Blue Jays also won their 38th straight in their regular season, their 22nd straight in the month of October and their ninth consecutive against Gettysburg.
Johns Hopkins rolled up more than 300 yards passing (320) and 200 yards rushing (206) for just the eighth time in school history; seven of the eight have come since the start of the 2010 season.
Germano was 20-of-26 for 242 yards and two scores and also rushed for 25 yards and a touchdown. Cary rushed 15 times for 102 yards and the two scores and, in the process, became the 26th player in school history reach 1,000 career rushing yards; he now has 1,096. Donaldson was the favorite target of the five Blue Jay quarterbacks who played in the game as he had a game-high eight receptions for 115 yards and the one touchdown.
Senior Jack Campbell led a Johns Hopkins defense that held Gettysburg more than 16 points and 100 yards under its season averages entering the game as he posted 12 tackles and added an interception. The Bullets were just 3-for-16 on third down chances, gave up four sacks and three quarterbacks combined to go just 11-of-25 for 114 yards with two interceptions.
Davidov rushed for a team-high 84 yards and the one score and threw for 56 yards and the other Bullet touchdown in the game. Jack Skinner posted a game-high 13 tackles, while Cole Keyes had nine tackles and recovered a Blue Jay fumble.
Johns Hopkins will return to action on Saturday, October 29 when the Blue Jays travel to Ursinus. Kickoff from Patterson Field is set for 1 pm.
Notes: Johns Hopkins sophomore quarterback Zack Baker had his school-record streak of consecutive completions snapped at 27 – just two shy of the NCAA Division III record • Quinn Donaldson's touchdown reception was the 20th of his career – he is just the sixth player in school history to reach 20 career touchdown receptions • Senior Kyle Bonci had two sacks in the victory – eight of his 18 tackles on the year have been sacks • Bradley Munday's seven receptions give him 232 in his career, which jumped him from fifth to third on JHU's career list • Johns Hopkins had 380 yards of total offense in the first half – the fifth-highest total in any half in school history.
- Pride and Poise -