COLLEGEVILLE, PA – The Johns Hopkins defense stopped Ursinus on three straight plays from the one-yard line in the final 30 seconds of the game to seal a wild 36-29 victory in the Centennial Conference opener for both teams Saturday afternoon at Patterson Field. The Blue Jays improve to 2-0 on the year and 1-0 in the Centennial, while the Bears slip to 1-1 overall and 0-1 in the Centennial.
The Blue Jays led 36-29 after a 12-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Stevens to Quinn Revere with 6:07 to play and had a chance to seal the win when Nick Seidel came up with an interception on the Bears' ensuing drive, but the Bear defense forced a Blue Jay punt and UC took over at its own 29 with 2:08 on the clock.
Six plays later the Bears had a first-and-goal at the four and had a first-and-goal at the two after the Blue Jays were called for pass interference. A one-yard-run by Tony Holden moved it to the one before a pair of incompletions pushed it to fourth-and-goal with 16 seconds remaining. The Bears then tried to spring Holden on a pitch wide to the left, but Ross Andersson slowed him and Matt Dubois finished him off at the three to seal the road victory for the Blue Jays.
The Blue Jays led 21-7 at the half, but Ursinus scored 19 straight points in the third quarter to grab a 29-26 lead. A 29-yard Dallas Evans touchdown reception, an Octavious Carter six -yard scoring reception and a 39-yard fumble return for Aaron Anderson - all in the final six minutes of the period – quickly turned the 14-point deficit into the three-point lead.
The 26-21 Ursinus lead didn't last long as sophomore EJ Talarico returned the kickoff after Anderson's score a school-record 96 yards for a touchdown to give the Blue Jays a 29-26 lead as the third quarter expired.
The Bears were even five minutes into the fourth quarter as Dakota Wherrity connected on a 25-yard field goal to cap a 10-play, 67-yard drive to make it 29-29. That set the stage for what proved to be the Stevens-to-Revere game-winning touchdown and the goal line stand that sealed the win late.
The Blue Jays had answered an impressive game-opening touchdown drive for the Bears with an equally impressive scoring drive of their own as they needed just six plays to go 78 yards with senior running back Danny Wolf getting to the outside and scoring from 52 yards out.
The 7-7 score held until the last six minutes of the second quarter, when the Blue Jays tacked on two scores to grab a 21-7 halftime lead. Ryan Stevens capped the first of those two drives with a two-yard touchdown pass on a perfect fade pass to Revere. After the Blue Jay defense forced a quick Ursinus punt, they Jays took over in plus territory at the Bear 42-yard line and again needed just six plays to find the end zone. After a Stevens-to-Christopher Pantelis completion to the four-yard line converted a third down chanced for the Blue Jays, Stevens went in untouched on a quarterback keeper to make it a 14-point game at the break.
Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
• Wolf rushed for 140 yards and the one score and Spencer Uggla added 66 yards to power a Blue Jay rushing game that rolled up 255 yards on the day.
• Revere and Artie Collins both had five receptions with Revere accounting for both of Hopkins' touchdown receptions on the day.
• Talarico's return of 96 yards was one yard better than the previous record of 95, which had been hit four times in program history, most recently by Harrison Wellmann in 2019 at Dickinson.
• Duncan Van Kouteren paced the Blue Jay defense with a career-high 14 tackles, including 2.5 for losses, and two pass breakups, while Dubois was in on 10 stops, including the last one that sealed the win.
Inside the Box Score – Ursinus
• Jack Psenicska was 27-of-52 for 331 yards and three touchdowns to fuel a 476-yard effort for the Ursinus offense.
• Holden rushed for 131 yards on 27 carries and Evans had seven receptions for 113 yards and the one score.
• Anderson led the Bears defensively with eight tackles, the fumble return for a score and a pass breakup.
Other Notes of Interest
• Johns Hopkins has scored at least 35 points in eight straight games dating back to last season.
• The Blue Jays improved to 27-12 all-time in Centennial openers. The 27 wins are the most of any team in the CC in league-opening games.
• JHU is now 24-3 on the road in the month of September since 2010.
Johns Hopkins will return to action on Saturday, September 17 when the Blue Jays welcome Juniata to Homewood Field for their home opener. Kickoff is set for 1 pm.
- 30 -