Nov. 1, 2014
COLLEGEVILLE, PA - Ninth-ranked Johns Hopkins turned a pair of Ursinus miscues on special teams into touchdowns and added a long touchdown pass all before the game was 12 minutes old as the Blue Jays jumped to a 21-0 lead and never looked back in knocking off the Bears, 42-14, at Patterson Field Saturday afternoon. Playing in an icy rain with a strong, steady wind, the Blue Jays used the quick start and a strong defensive performance to improve to 8-0 overall and 7-0 in the Centennial Conference.
In addition to moving within one victory of securing a sixth straight Centennial Conference title, the Blue Jays also handed head coach Jim Margraff his 175th career victory. With the win, Margraff becomes the winningest college football coach in Maryland state history; he had been tied with Morgan St. legend Eddie Hurt atop the state's career victory list. Hurt won 174 games form 1929-59.
Johns Hopkins can secure at least a share of its sixth straight Centennial title with a win in either of its final two regular season games. A win in either of those games would give the Blue Jays' the league's automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Playoffs.
Johns Hopkins got touchdown runs of eight and 14 yards from sophomore Stuart Walters in the opening spree with both of those scores setup by mistakes in the punting game by the Bears. Walters' first TD came after the Blue Jays recovered a fumble by UC punter Eric Boyer, who failed to handle the snap after the Bears went three-and-out on their first possession.
The Bears actually stopped the Blue Jays at their one-yard line on Hopkins' next possession, but another quick three-and-out set the Blue Jays up at their own 45. It took exactly one play for Hopkins to double the seven-point lead to 14 as senior Braden Anderson hit sophomore Quinn Donaldson with a 55-yard touchdown pass to quickly extend the lead.
The Blue Jays made the Bears pay for another crucial mistake as Prince Patterson had a Matt Auran punt hit him in leg and Jesse Poore recovered at the Ursinus 14-yard line. One play later, Walters had his second touchdown of the opening quarter and the Blue Jays had their 21-point lead.
Ursinus nearly scored on its opening possession of the second quarter, but Corey Kelly was stopped at the one-yard line on a fourth-and goal after a three-yard reception to keep the score at 21-0.
The Bears (6-2, 5-2 CC) finally broke through on their next possession as they took over at the Hopkins 31 and covered that distance in seven plays with Kelly going in from five yards out to make it 21-7 with just under six minutes remaining in the opening half.
That score held until midway through the third quarter, when Anderson went to work in the air and directed a seven-play, 86-yard drive that took just 2:08. Anderson hit sophomore Bradley Munday for 30 yards to open the drive and later added 25-yard strikes to Donaldson and Munday before sophomore Dionisio Roman scored on a one-yard run to push the lead to 28-7.
Anderson added fourth-quarter touchdown passes to Munday and Donaldson to account for Hopkins' final two touchdowns. His 23-yard strike to Munday came on fourth-and-10 with Munday making a full-extension diving catch at the pylon. Donaldson's 63-yard touchdown catch came two plays after the Bears had pulled within 35-14 on a Kevin Monahan-to-Safi Hasseeb five-yard touchdown pass midway through the final period.
Anderson was 13-of-21 for 265 yards with the three touchdowns and was also the leading rusher in the game as he got 68 yards on his eight carries. Donaldson had five receptions for 142 yards and the two scores, while Munday added four catches for 77 yards and the highlight-reel touchdown catch. Walters rushed for 52 yards on 13 carries with the two touchdowns.
Defensively, the Blue Jays sacked Monahan four times, allowed just 51 net rushing yards on 40 carries. Junior Keith Corliss posted a team-high nine tackles, including one for a loss, while senior Michael Rocca added eight tackles, one sack, one fumble recovery and one pass breakup.
Monahan was 25-of-46 for 192 yards with the one touchdown, but he was forced to check the ball down repeatedly and 85 of his 192 yards came in the fourth quarter.
Notes: Johns Hopkins improves to 41-1 in its last 42 regular season games with today's win and the Blue Jays are now 16-1 in their last 17 regular season games in November • In the last five games, Anderson has thrown 16 touchdown passes against just one interception • Donaldson's 142 receiving yards are a career high • Johns Hopkins outgained Ursinus 384-243 despite having the ball for just 22:18.
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