Sept. 26, 2015
BALTIMORE, MD -- The last time the eighth-ranked Johns Hopkins football team trailed in the second half of a regular season game, the Blue Jays scored the final 23 points to rally for a 33-14 win at Franklin & Marshall last November. That win secured a share of a sixth consecutive Centennial Conference title for the Blue Jays and locked up a bid to the 2014 NCAA Playoffs.
On Saturday, the Blue Jays faced a 28-21 deficit midway through the third quarter of their showdown with Muhlenberg and responded with a 28-0 game-ending run to fuel a 49-28 victory that didn't secure anything, but kept Hopkins unbeaten on the year at 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the Centennial Conference.
The win improves the Blue Jays' regular season winning steak to 25 games and its September winning streak to 23 games. Few games during either of those runs provided as much excitement for the fans as Saturday's win.
A 21-point victory sure didn't appear to be in the cards after the Mules turned a George DiFiore interception at their own 23-yard line into a nine-play, 77-yard drive that Nick Savant polished off with a two-yard run to give Muhlenberg the 28-21 lead with 11:23 to play in the third quarter.
From there, it was all Johns Hopkins as the Blue Jays answered Savant's touchdown with a methodical 10-play, 60-yard drive that included 29 yards rushing by junior Stuart Walters, including the game-tying touchdown from one yard out.
After the teams traded interceptions, it was a 25-yard interception return by junior Garrett Spek that set up go-ahead touchdown or the Blue Jays as he picked off Muhlenberg's Nick Palladino and returned it to the Muhlenberg 27. Five plays later Jonathan Germano found Quinn Donaldson alone in the back of the end zone to give Hopkins a 35-28 lead.
Palladino, who threw for 333 yards and two scores and rushed for 77 yards as well, kept the Blue Jay defense on its heels on the ensuing possession as he moved the Mules from their own 24 to the Johns Hopkins 33, where he was faced with a fourth-and-five. Undaunted, he found Ryan Delaney in the middle of the field for what appeared to be a crucial conversion, only to have Johns Hopkins safety Jack Toner strip the ball from Delaney and senior Brady Watts came up with the recovery at the Blue Jay 10-yard line.
Hopkins couldn't generate a first down and punted, but quickly forced the Mules to do the same on its ensuing possession. Taking over at their own 45 with just over six minutes remaining and leading by just seven, the Blue Jays needed just 22 seconds to go 55 yards and score what proved to be the decisive touchdown. After a 10-yard Germano-to-Bradley Munday completion on first down, senior Brandon Cherry cut inside on a sweep and raced to the corner of the end zone to make it 42-28.
Hopkins sealed the victory with a Germano-to-Boone-Lewis, Jr. seven-yard touchdown pass with 2:15 on the clock; that drive was set up by a Toner interception that he returned 44 yards to the Muhlenberg 11-yard line.
The 28-point surge at the end of the game didn't look like it would be necessary after the opening quarter as Hopkins put together scoring drives of 60 and 67 yards to grab a 14-0 lead after less than 13 minutes. Munday opened the scoring with a three-yard touchdown reception and Germano later hit Donaldson on a 14-yard fade to account for the first quarter scoring.
Muhlenberg answered with a 14-point run of its own as Savant scored from two yards out early in the second quarter to cut the 14-point deficit in half. The 14-7 lead held until late in the second quarter, when the teams combined for three touchdowns in just over two minutes.
A 31-yard Palladino-to-Nick Lamb touchdown pass started the wild half-ending spree, but Hopkins answered quickly with an efficient six-play, 61-yard drive that Walters capped with a four-yard scoring run.
About the only thing the Blue Jays did wrong on that drive was score too quickly as the Mules needed just two plays and 29 seconds to go 55 yards to knot the game at 21 apiece. Under heavy pressure, Palladino was hit as he threw off his back foot, but Delaney got free in the middle of the field when a defender slipped and he caught Palladino's pass in stride to pull the Mules even.
After the teams combined for six touchdowns on nine possessions to open the game, the defenses began to come up with big plays late in the half. Muhlenberg picked off Germano moments after Delany's touchdown, only to have Hopkins' Charlie Kassis force a Mule fumble inside Hopkins territory just before halftime.
Savant's two-yard touchdown run came just 3:37 into the third quarter and gave Muhlenberg its first lead of the game; as it turned out, that would be the last time the Mules found the end zone in the high-scoring and entertaining game.
Germano threw for 189 yards and four touchdowns with three interceptions. Munday had eight receptions for 80 yards and the one score and Cherry rushed for a game-high 99 yards and the one big fourth-quarter touchdown. Walters and Donaldson added the two rushing and receiving touchdowns, respectively.
While the Mules scored 28 points and totaled 499 yards of offense, the Blue Jay defense posted 13 tackles for losses, four sacks, four interceptions and two fumble recoveries. Sophomore Keonte Henson counted two sacks among his eight tackles and added two forced fumbles, while Jack Campbell paced the Blue Jays with a career-high 13 tackles. In addition, Toner had seven tackels, three pass breakups, one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
Palladino found seven different receivers in throwing for the 333 yards. Delaney was his favorite target with 11 receptions for 124 yards and the one touchdown, while Lamb added 116 yards and one score on eight catches. Savant led a ground game that generated 166 yards and two scores as he rushed for 93 yards and the two touchdowns.
Mike Luby paced the Muhlenberg defense with 10 tackles, including two for losses, and added one of Muhlenberg's three interceptions in the game. Khiry Hughes and Matt Pagano added nine tackles apiece for the Mules.
- Pride and Poise -