BALTIMORE, MD – The 22nd-ranked Salisbury football team outscored host Johns Hopkins 31-0 after halftime to turn a 13-10 halftime deficit into a 41-13 victory at Homewood Field Saturday afternoon. The Sea Gulls improve to 3-0 on the year, while the eighth-ranked Blue Jays slip to 2-1.
The Blue Jays jumped to the 13-10 halftime lead on the strength of a pair of Brad Paxton field goals and a two-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Bay Harvey.
After the Sea Gulls had a game-opening field goal hit off the upright, the Blue Jays went 71 yards in eight plays and grabbed a 3-0 lead on a 26-yard Paxton field goal.
A Kollin Samaha 34-yard field goal early in the second quarter evened the score before the teams traded touchdown drives to account for a 10-10 tie late in the second quarter.
Harvey capped an 11-play, 85-yard drive that ate 6:44 off the clock with his two-yard scoring run with 5:59 on the second-quarter clock. Harvey jump-started the drive with a 39-yard completion to senior PJ Scales and later converted a fourth-and-one from inside the Sea Gull five-yard line before going in from two yards out to give the Jays a 10-3 lead.
Salisbury answered quickly with a five-play, 70-yard drive that Gage Katzenell-Hall ignited with a 49-yard completion to Daniel Clark; four plays later it was Ronald Clark powering in the from the four to pull the 'Gulls even at 10-10 with just over three minutes remaining before halftime.
The Blue Jays moved inside the Salisbury five-yard line late in the quarter before settling for a Paxton 19-yard field goal as time expired that gave JHU the 13-10 halftime lead.
The Sea Gulls grabbed the lead for good early in the third quarter as Katzenell-Hall hit Dario Belizaire with a 63-yard touchdown pass on SU's first possession and Samaha added a 31-yard field goal late in the period to extend a 17-13 lead to 20-13.
That score held until midway through the final quarter when the Sea Gulls scored three touchdowns in a seven-minute span to put the game away. A pair of Michael Cox touchdown runs and a 26-yard Ben Spiess fumble return for a score accounted for the three fourth-quarter touchdowns for the Sea Gulls.
Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
• Harvey was 20-of-33 for 250 yards and also rushed for 31 yards and the one score.
• EJ Talarico had a career-high nine receptions for 125 yards and Scales added four receptions for 61 yards.
• The Blue Jay defense, which held the Sea Gulls more than 250 yards under their season average of 632.5 yards per game, was led by senior Cole Peters, who posted eight tackles in the loss.
Inside the Box Score – Salisbury
• Clark paced an SU ground game that churned out 247 yards and three touchdowns as he had 104 yards and the one score.
• Cox carried just seven times, but accounted for 80 yards and the two touchdowns on the ground.
• Katzenell-Hall was 5-of-10 for 126 yards and the one score.
• The SU defense was paced by Jimmy Celentano's seven tackles.
• Spiess added six tackles to go along with his fumble return for a touchdown. Malachi Baker added six tackles and a third-quarter fumble recovery that led to a Samaha field goal.
Johns Hopkins will return to action on Friday, October 4 when the Blue Jays welcome Rowan to Homewood Field (6 pm) for the final non-conference game of the season.
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