By Pat Cummings
D3sports.com
BALTIMORE -- The lights at Homewood Field were bright Friday night for the Centennial Conference's midseason showdown, pitting Gettysburg and Johns Hopkins. Only in the final minutes did Gettysburg score, keeping JHU from recording its fourth shutout of the season.
Anyone who listened to the D3football.com Game of the Week broadcast or sat through the dreary conditions would know that the JHU first-team defense did not allow a point. Coach Jim Margraff did not intend to send his starters back out on the field with a chance to preserve a shutout.
"I know some of the guys were talking about it. But in situations like these, we want our second teamers to get as much experience as they can, and this was one of those spots," said the 1982 alumus.
"You can't buy experience -- to have your second team in there vs. a real good offense, in the two-minute drill, when there's some real edge in the game."
As to the strength of the JHU schedule, which some have criticized as weaker than other top schools (11-14 non-conference opponents record), Margraff was unwavering. "We play schools similar to us (in academic quality) and that is never going to change. If it means a weaker schedule, then so be it."
Upon a further review of the Hopkins defense, opponents have scored a total of 37 points in seven games this season, an average of 5.3 per game. Here is a breakdown of how and when opponents scored as a way to judge for yourself how strong the defense has been. We list the score coming into the play for perspective.
Week 1
It was Johns Hopkins 0, Rochester 0 when Rochester hit a 22-yard field goal with 11:12 left in the second quarter
Johns Hopkins 20, Rochester 3: 16-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown with 12:01 left in the fourth quarter
FINAL: Johns Hopkins 27, Rochester 9
Week 2
Johns Hopkins 22, Washington & Lee 0: 4-yard touchdown run with 7:29 to play in the third quarter
FINAL: Johns Hopkins 36, Washington & Lee 7
Week 3
Johns Hopkins 24, Randolph-Macon 0
Week 4
Johns Hopkins 21, Carnegie Mellon 0
Week 5
Johns Hopkins 30, Dickinson 0
Week 6
Johns Hopkins 0, Franklin & Marshall 0: 2-yard touchdown run 1:51 into the first quarter
Johns Hopkins 16, Franklin & Marshall 7: 14-yard touchdown pass with 4:08 remaining in the third quarter
FINAL: Johns Hopkins 37, Franklin & Marshall 14
Week 7
Johns Hopkins 27, Gettysburg 0: 5-yard touchdown run with 1:49 remaining in the game
FINAL: Johns Hopkins 27, Gettysburg 7
The Blue Jays defense (not including the fumble return against the offense) has allowed four touchdowns and one field goal this year, at 4.44 points per game. JHU plays at Muhlenberg this week and home against Ursinus next week. Week 10 is a bye for the Blue Jays who will play McDaniel in the last regular season game. The combined record of their remaining opponents is 9-8. Some tough tests will follow for the Blue Jays, but I doubt if a Centennial team keeps JHU from 10-0.
Aggies No Fluke
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water, a voracious pack of Aggies jumped up and took a chunk out of the MAC. You were amply warned. Delaware Valley's 38-27 win against No. 11 Lycoming ranks as the school's biggest victory in years, perhaps in its history. The Aggies scored 21 fourth-quarter points to spark their first win against the Warriors in 21 years. It propels Del Val to the top of the MAC standings.
Del Val notched a total of 31 points against Lycoming in their last 11 meetings. It took 50:51 to get 31 points, and an extra 6:50 to grab an additional seven points. Sophomore quarterback Adam Knoblauch completed 20 of 36 passes for 267 yards, hitting nine different receivers, five of them for multiple receptions.
"I'm not an easy coach to play quarterback for," said former University of Florida quarterback and DVC head coach G.A. Mangus, "but Adam does a heck of a job."
The Aggies victory spoiled the mood of the homecoming crowd in Williamsport and a banner day for Lycoming wideout Ricky Lannetti. Setting a new school record for most receptions in a single game, Lannetti corralled 16 Phil Mann pass attempts.
DVC is now 5-1 for the season and 4-1 in the MAC, whereas Lyco falls to 4-1 in the MAC standings and overall. The Aggies now control their own destiny for the playoffs and have established themselves as a force in the MAC that I believe will be around for a while.
"If you want to be one of the big boys, you have to beat one of the big boys," said Mangus. "We knew this was a game on our schedule where we had the chance to beat a tremendous team."
Home games against Albright and FDU-Florham mark their schedule for the next two weeks followed by road tests at Wilkes and Widener. Mangus is reserved to look ahead to an upcoming matchup at Wilkes. "I'm a one game at a time guy," Mangus told me Monday evening. I mean, John Port (Albright QB) threw for 500 yards last week. There is no way we can afford to look beyond someone like that"
Should the Aggies win the remainder of their games, they take the conference. If Lycoming can win out, and Del Val loses one game, the Warriors would win the MAC being that they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over Wilkes. Enjoy the race to the postseason.
Monarchs tame Panthers
Methodist rallied from a 12-point third quarter deficit to upset host Ferrum 37-34. Winning at Ferrum for the first time since 1999, Methodist rattled the USAC cage by handing Ferrum its second conference loss, just a year after going 5-1 in the Dixie.
Trailing 27-15 after allowing the Panthers' Darren Venable to return a Methodist fumble 76 yards for a touchdown, the Monarchs responded with a 40-yard Jeremy McSwain touchdown run. On their next possession, Methodist quarterback Chris Roncketti scampered 32 yards to put the Monarchs on top for good.
"You are always proud of your team when they come back from adversity," Methodist coach Jim Sypult glowed. "This was a well-earned win and we fought for every inch of it. The ball definitely bounced our way this week."
Methodist will encounter No. 14 Christopher Newport on the road this week before finishing the 2003 season with three consecutive home games against Chowan, Greensboro, and Shenandoah.
Pool B watch
Salisbury won again this weekend and improves to 5-0. Not much else to report on this front other than an important Pool B game exists outside of my coverage area. Waynesburg will host W&J. More on that matchup below.
Keep an eye out for Salisbury's Nov. 8 game against Shenandoah. The Sea Gulls knocked out Kean 21-0 last week. Shenandoah knocked off the Cougars in week 1, 34-7.
Superstars of the Mid-Atlantic (Conference)
Voters will have a lot to choose from in determining postseason honors in the MAC. Two tremendous performances were witnessed on Saturday when Wilkes trounced Susquehanna, 59-20. Colonels running back Brett Trichilo carried the ball 26 times, recording 276 yards and four touchdowns on the afternoon. In six games this season, Trichilo has gained 1131 yards, averaging 188.5 yards per game, and scoring 12 times on the ground. Trichilo is just a junior and has over 3,000 yards in his 21-game career, and has moved to second on Wilkes' all time rushing list.
Susquehanna's Mark Bartosic continues to amaze the statisticians, and maybe even the NFL scouts. Bartosic caught 12 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns, moving to fourth place in NCAA Division III history for total career yards and 14th in all divisions. The senior can claim 50 touchdowns in his career, enough to place him in an all divisions fifth-place tie with Jerry Rice of the Oakland Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Troy Edwards.
Against Juniata, Albright's John Port passed for a MAC record 533 yards, which is slightly above par for the course this season for the junior. In six games, Port has completed 63 percent of his passes for 2,027 yards. Averaging 337.8 passing yards per game, Port's passes have found the end zone 16 times in the 2003 schedule, helping the Lions to a 4-2 record. Amassing just over 2,400 yards in 2002, Port is on track to become the leading quarterback in Albright history.
Mid Atlantic Region Top 5
1. Johns Hopkins
2. Christopher Newport
3. Bridgewater
4. Hampden-Sydney
5. Delaware Valley
Having seen the Blue Jays last week, I am confident in placing them at the top of the region this week. "Defense wins championships," is oversimplified and overused but most likely true. The Blue Jays and Captains have rock solid defensive units and it would be a pleasure to see them hook up in November.
Everyone knows the rationale in placing BC above HSC. How boring is the ODAC race after Bridgewater's rallying win over the Tigers?
Lycoming drops out for the first time this season. I have been harping for weeks that the Warriors have slipped under the radar with some deceptively weak double-digit wins over King's and Albright. The Aggies still have to face Trichilo, but Trichilo's Colonels fell to Lyco. G.A. Mangus is a motivator of his troops in Doylestown and they earned this spot, along with their 13 votes in this week's D3football.com Top 25.
Obscure Mid-Atlantic Region Media Guide Factoid of the Week
Something leads me to believe that the Bullets of Gettysburg College didn't obtain their moniker the same way the NBA's infamous Washington Bullets did. Well, maybe that was just an unfortunate double entendre.
The Gettysburg Times dubbed GC teams the Bullets in 1924 after the editor of the publication compared the school's team to the many bullets which flew in the air just beyond the present day location of Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium, 61 years earlier.
Gettysburg teams don orange and blue colors, not necessarily the tones one would compare to ammunition. According to the Gettysburg media guide, "style decreed that college students wear 'soft, snug fitting caps with a visor made in alternating stripes of the college colors.' " Well, unfortunately for Gettysburg, they had no school colors at the time. A salesman "hinted" to the college that "orange and blue caps were in stock." History.
Games to Watch
No. 13 Washington & Jefferson at Waynesburg, Waynesburg, Pa., 1:30 p.m.: Granted, this game is out of my coverage region (for more, read Ryan Briggs's Great Lakes column). But this is key in this region because a W&J loss can assist Salisbury's Pool B chances. Should Waynesburg win on Saturday, and through the rest of the season (with games at 2-3 Frostburg State and home vs. 3-3 Westminster, Pa.) the Yellow Jackets have a chance to earn a Pool B berth. Their only loss is a one-pointer to Gettysburg. A quality loss; but a loss nonetheless. The Eastern Shore should watch this game with anticipation.
No. 20 Johns Hopkins at Muhlenberg, Allentown, Pa., 1 p.m.: The Mules have struggled this season, just one year removed from a blowout playoff victory and a formidable showing against John Carroll. The roaring Blue Jays defense flies into Allentown, looking for 8-0.
Lycoming at Moravian, Bethlehem, Pa., 1 p.m.: The Warriors and Pioneers play for the first time since 1998. The MAC is a beast of its own. How can two teams in the same football conference not play each other for five consecutive years? After the last tough Lyco defeat, they went to FDU-Florham, repeat, FDU-Florham, and lost by six. The Greyhounds have a chance to repeat the feat of their conference rivals, further jeopardizing the Warriors' chances for the postseason.
Attention SIDs and all
Feel free to contact me with any info, questions, comments about your squad and more. Especially welcome are tidbits of useless knowledge for our "Obscure Media Guide Factoids" segment.
