BALTIMORE, MD – No. 10 Johns Hopkins did its part to set up next week's showdown with No. 21 Muhlenberg as the Blue Jays jumped out to a 35-14 halftime lead and held visiting Ursinus scoreless in the second half of a 42-14 victory at Homewood Field Saturday afternoon. The Blue Jays run their winning streak to 10 games dating back to last season and improve to 7-0 overall and 3-0 in the Centennial, while the Bears slip to 4-3 overall and 0-3 in the Centennial.
Muhlenberg ensured its would be a matchup of unbeatens next weekend in Allentown as the Mules topped Dickinson, 42-21, on the road earlier today to improve to 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the Centennial.
The Blue Jays scored back-to-back touchdowns in a span of less than four minutes midway through the first quarter to grab a 14-0 lead that they would never relinquish.
Junior Bay Harvey capped a seven-play, 52-yard touchdown drive with a 12-yard strike to senior Will Leger in the corner of the end zone to get the Blue Jays on the board with 8:18 remaining in the opening period. A holding penalty on Ursinus on a fourth-and-four helped extend the drive, which saw Harvey hit Leger two plays later to opening the scoring.
Blue Jay junior Ryan Wilson then forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff that graduate student Zach Bouggess recovered along the sideline to set the Blue Jays up at the Ursinus 39. Seven plays later, junior Andrew Rich went in from two yards out to give the Blue Jays the early 14-point lead.
Ursinus cut the deficit in half just under three minutes later after a surprise Johns Hopkins onsides kick went out of bounds and gave the Bears possession at the Blue Jay 39. A 14-yard Jalen Bradford-to-Justin Collier completion and a 22-yard Tony Holden rush helped move Ursinus inside the Hopkins five-yard line and Bradford hit Collier with a three-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-7.
Leger and Rich then sandwiched their second touchdowns of the game around another Collier touchdown catch to give the Blue Jays a 28-14 lead midway through the second quarter.
Leger's second score came with just 34 seconds remaining in the first quarter as he got behind the Ursinus defense and Harvey hit him stride down the middle to polish off, oddly, JHU's third, seven-play scoring drive of the first quarter.
The Bears answered Leger's score with their only lengthy scoring drive of the game as they went 67 yards in nine plays and Collier made a nice catch of a seven-yard pass from Bradford along the sideline in the end zone to make it a one-score game (21-14) again.
The Blue Jays put the game away with back-to-back scores in a four-minute span later in the second quarter. An Oliver Craddock interception of a Bradford pass down the middle was returned to the Ursinus two-yard line and Rich went up the middle two plays later to make it 28-14.
A PJ Penders sack of Bradford ended the Bears' next possession and the Blue Jays took over at midfeild after a short UC punt. Three plays later, the Ursinus defense forced the Blue Jays into a fourth-and-one at the Bear 41, but Harvey again found Leger alone behind the defense – this time in stride at the UC 20 – and he sprinted to the end zone for his third touchdown on as many receptions.
The Blue Jay defense proceeded to hold the Bears to just 85 yards after halftime and Harvey closed out the scoring with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Josh Polce less than 90 seconds into the fourth quarter to account for the 42-14 final score.
Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
• Harvey was 22-of-29 for 244 yards with four touchdowns and also rushed nine times for 50 yards. The 22 completions are a career-high and he has thrown for three or more TDs in five straight games.
• Leger had three receptions – all for touchdowns – for 88 yards, while Polce (6-69-1) and Cole Crotty (7-46-0) combined for 13 receptions for 115 yards and one score.
• Luke Schuermann led the Blue Jay defense with eight tackles and two sacks, while Craddock had the one interception and one pass breakup to go along with his interception.
• Wilson added an interception and three tackles to go along with his forced fumble that set up JHU's second touchdown.
Inside the Box Score – Ursinus
• Bradford finish 17-of-35 for 217 yards with the two touchdown passes on the day.
• Collier was targeted a remarkable 19 times and had nine receptions for 124 yards and the two scores.
• Brett Gross (10 tackles), Connor Carter (9) and Ryan Bodolus (8 tackles, 2 sacks) led the way defensively for the Bears.
Notes of Interest
• Johns Hopkins rolled up 451 yards and 42 points against an Ursinus defense that entered the game allowing just 273.5 yards and 17.3 points per game.
• The Blue Jays are 7-0 for the 10th time in program history – all 10 instances have come since 2003.
• JHU extended its record home winning streak to 16 games and the 10-game overall winning streak marks the ninth time in program history that Hopkins has won 10 or more consecutive games. Each of JHU's all-time 10-game+ winning streaks have taken place since the start of the 2002 season.
Next week's Johns Hopkins-Muhlenberg game is set for a 2 pm kickoff on Saturday, October 28 at Scotty Wood Stadium in Allentown.
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