BALTIMORE, MD – Johns Hopkins senior quarterback David Tammaro threw for 348 yards and three scores and rushed for another touchdown and the Blue Jay defense allowed just 132 yards of total offense in a 41-0 Centennial Conference victory over Moravian at Homewood Field Friday night. The shutout is the first for Johns Hopkins under first-year head coach Greg Chimera and first-year defensive coordinator Harrison Green.
Johns Hopkins (2-1, 1-1 Centennial), which is ranked 21st in the nation by D3football.com, led just 3-0 after the first quarter, but put the game away with three second-quarter touchdowns that gave the Blue Jays a 24-0 halftime lead.
An eight-yard Dane Rogerson scoring run capped a seven-play, 78-yard drive early in the second period and Tammaro hit a streaking Harrison Wellmann down the sideline from 58 yards out just three minutes later to quickly turn the three-point lead into a 17-0 advantage with 9:39 left until halftime.
The Greyhounds had a chance to get to the half down just 17, but sophomore Robert Fletcher intercepted a David LePoidevin pass at the Hopkins 43-yard line and returned it to the Moravian 22 with 33 seconds remaining in the first half. It took just two plays – completions of 16 and six yards to junior Ryan Hubley – for the Blue Jays to cover those 22 yards and grab the 24-0 halftime lead.
Any hopes for a Moravian comeback were dashed early in the third quarter as the Blue Jays took the opening kickoff and went 77 yards in seven plays with Tammaro connecting with Wellmann on a 15-yard touchdown pass to make it 31-0 with 12:11 remaining on the third-quarter clock. Tammaro added a three-yard scoring run early in the fourth quarter and Mike Eberle closed the scoring with a career-best 45-yard field goal to close out the scoring.
The Blue Jay defense picked up its third shutout in the last nine games dating back to last season and its first against Moravian since winning 41-0 in 2011. The 132 yards the Blue Jays allowed are the fewest JHU has surrendered since September 14, 2013, when Susquehanna managed just 122 in a 24-7 Johns Hopkins victory. In all, Johns Hopkins totaled 10 tackles for losses, five sacks and the one interception; Moravian moved inside Blue Jay territory just twice and never got inside the JHU 35-yard line.
Sophomore Nick Seidel posted a team-high seven tackles, including two for losses, while senior Mike Kalanik added five tackles, including three for losses and one sack.
Tammaro was 27-of-43 for the 348 yards and three touchdown passes and added the one rushing score to lead a 484-yard attack for Johns Hopkins. Hubley (10-112-1) and Wellmann (7-108-2) became the first pair of Blue Jay receivers to top 100-yards receiving in the same game since Luke McFadden and Brett Caggiano turned the trick in a 32-29 overtime win at Washington & Lee on September 1, 2017. This is the 18th time in school history that Johns Hopkins has had two players with 100+ receiving yards in the same game.
Roberto Diez turned in a strong game for the Greyhounds as he rushed 21 times for 105 yards for his first career 100-yard rushing game. However, 16 other Moravian rushing attempts combined for negative eight yards (including yards lost on sacks) and LePoidevin, who was making his first career start, was just 5-of-15 for 35 yards with the one interception through the air.
Johns Hopkins will return to action on Saturday, September 28 when the Blue Jays travel to Dickinson to take on the Red Devils in another Centennial Conference game.
Notes: Tammaro topped 8,000 career passing yards with his 348 tonight – he now has 8,035 • Hubley's 112 receiving yards pushed him past 1,500 for his career (1,538) • Kalanik reached a pair of milestones as he reached 25 career sacks (25.5) and 50 career tackles for loss (50.0) • Eberle's two field goals covered 40 and 45 yards – he is the first Johns Hopkins kicker with two 40-yard field goals in the same game since Jamie Sullivan connected from 44 and 42 at Washington & Lee in 2017.