COLLEGEVILLE, PA – The 19th-ranked Johns Hopkins football team jumped to a 32-13 lead after three quarter then held off a furious fourth-quarter rally by host Ursinus in what became a 32-29 victory Saturday afternoon. The win is the third straight for the Blue Jays, who improve to 4-1 overall and 3-1 in the Centennial, while the Bears slip to 3-2 overall and 2-2 in the Centennial.
Johns Hopkins appeared to have the game in-hand after Luke Yakely's one-yard touchdown run with 2:45 to play in the third quarter extended a 25-13 lead to 32-13. Yakely's touchdown, his second of the day, capped a 13-play, 95-yard drive that ate 4:36 off the clock and gave the Blue Jays the 19-point lead.
Ursinus took over at its own 25 after the ensuing Hopkins kickoff and used 13 plays of its own to cover 75 yards and slice the deficit to 32-21 with a one-yard touchdown reception by Alex Lunn. Lunn's touchdown came on third-and-goal and was one of two third-downs the Bears converted on the drive; Sam Ragland's two-point conversion made it an 11-point game.
After forcing a quick Blue Jay punt, the Bears used another 13-play drive, this one covering 94 yards, to pull within 32-29. A five-yard Thomas Garlick scoring run capped the drive and Garlick hit Ragland on the two-point conversion with 4:28 on the clock to make it 32-29.
The Blue Jays moved from their own 35 to the Ursinus 23, but a penalty and a sack moved the ball back to the 41, where Kyle Battles pinned the Bears at their own 17 with 1:54 to play.
A pair of incompletions and two sacks by the Blue Jay defense – the last by Mike Kalanik and Kyle Roberts – sealed the victory for the Blue Jays, who ran out the final 61 seconds after the defense came up with the game-clinching stop.
The Blue Jays had jumped to the 25-13 lead at the half on the strength of a two-first half touchdown passes from senior David Tammaro to sophomore Harrison Wellmann and the first of the two scoring runs by Yakely.
It took Tammaro and Wellmann exactly one play to give the Blue Jays an early 7-0 lead. After the Blue Jay defense stopped the Bears on the opening drive of the game, Tammaro hit Wellmann in stride down the middle on Hopkins' first offensive play to stake the Blue Jays to the seven-point lead less than two minutes into the game.
The seven-point lead was up to 13 at the end of the first quarter as Tammaro flipped a two-yard pass to Wellmann to polish off a 13-play, 77-yard drive late in the period. A 12-yard strike from Tammaro to freshman Lance Large on third-and-11 deep in Ursinus territory helped keep the drive alive.
Ursinus answered with a one-yard touchdown run by Ragland on the ensuing possession before the Blue Jays turned an eight-yard Ursinus punt and subsequent short field into a 37-yard touchdown drive that took just three plays and was polished off by an eight-yard run by Yakely with 11:27 on the second-quarter clock that made it 20-7.
That score held until late in the quarter when Ursinus went 75 yards in 11 plays with Ragland catching a 15-yard strike down the middle from Garlick to pull within 23-13 just eight seconds before halftime. However, the Blue Jays blocked the extra point and Finn Zechman returned it for a two-point defensive conversion to account for the 25-13 halftime score.
Tammaro was 16-of-31 for 234 yards and two touchdowns and Wellmann had four receptions for 106 yards and the two scores. Yakely's two touchdowns match his career high.
Mike Kalanik (12 tackles, 2.5 TFLs), Ross Andersson (11 tackles) and Kyle Roberts (9 tackles, two sacks) led the way defensively for the Blue Jays, who forced a pair of Ursinus turnovers on the day.
Garlick was 15-of-32 for 168 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed for 107 yards and the one score. Ragland rushed for a game-high 114 yards and the one score and had seven receptions for 76 yards and the one touchdown.
Danny Freeman and Jacob McCain both had eight tackles for Ursinus, which also got a pair of sacks from Noah Thomas.
Johns Hopkins will return to action on Saturday, October 19 when the Blue Jays welcome Franklin & Marshall to Homewood Field.
Notes: Johns Hopkins has now won 30 consecutive games in the month of October dating back to 2010 • The Blue Jays hit the bye week at 4-1 and are now 44-3 in games played before their bye week since 2011 • Nick Seidel's interception gives the Blue Jay defense at least one INT in six straight games dating back to last season • Tammaro's two TD passes give him 70 in his career; he is just the second JHU player to reach 70 (Hewitt Tomlin / 2008-11) and he is now just four away from the school record • Wellmann's 106 receiving yards mark his third consecutive 100-yard receiving game – he is the first JHU receiver with three straight 100-yard games since Sam Wernick had three straight in 2010.