BALTIMORE, MD – The Johns Hopkins football team entered Saturday's home finale against Dickinson knowing it needed just one win in its final two regular season games to lock up at least a share of a record 17th Centennial Conference title and a berth in the upcoming NCAA Playoffs.
The Blue Jays made certain there will be no drama entering next week's regular season finale at McDaniel as the Hopkins defense continued its season-long run of exceptional efforts with its first shutout of the year and added a touchdown of its own to help fuel a 30-0 victory over the Red Devils.
The win bumps Hopkins' record to 8-1 overall and 5-0 in the Centennial and secures the aforementioned automatic bid to the NCAA Playoffs and at least a share of the league title. With the loss, Dickinson slips to 5-4 overall and 2-3 in the Centennial.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Blue Jays would get all the scoring they would need in an eight-minute span in the second quarter as they erupted for 20 points to grab a lead that was never seriously threatened.
A 55-yard James Rinello-to-Robby Enright touchdown pass ignited the spree and capped a quick, four-play, 80-yard drive. Enright took wide receiver screen from Rinello on the outside and darted untouched down the sideline to open the scoring just 33 seconds into the second period.
The 7-0 lead held for exactly seven minutes before Rinello rolled to his right and hit a crossing Cole Crotty at the five-yard line and Crotty scampered in to push the lead to 13-0. Crotty's score was the final play in a 13-play, 77-yard drive that ate nearly six minutes off the clock and saw the Blue Jays convert on a fourth-and-three from the Dickinson 15 with a four-yard Rinello run.
After allowing a total of 73 yards on Dickinson's first two drives, the Blue Jay defense buckled down and held the Devils to 23 yards on five, second-quarter possessions and turned a low snap and fumble into a 28-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Carson Bourdo just two plays after Crotty's touchdown.
Johns Hopkins would tack on a 29-yard Brad Paxton field goal early in the fourth quarter and a three-yard touchdown run from Andrew Rich just three minutes later to account for the final scoring. Rich set up his own touchdown run as he returned a punt 45 yards to the Dickinson five-yard line and worked his way up the middle into the end zone two plays later to close the scoring.
The Blue Jay defense held the Red Devils to just 188 yards of total offense, including just 113 on their final 12 possessions. In all, Dickinson was forced to punt seven times, turned the ball over on downs five times (all in the second half) and had the lost fumble that Bourdo turned into to second touchdown in as many games.
Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
• Rinello was 9-of-15 for 137 yards and the two touchdowns and added 47 rushing yards as well.
• Rich rushed for a game-high 81 yards and the one score and had the 45-yard punt return that set up his rushing score.
• Oliver Craddock and Cole Peters tied for the team-lead in tackles for the Blue Jays with eight. Peters had one sack among his eight stops and Craddock was in on 1.5 tackles for loss.
• Bourdo added five tackles to go along with his 28-yard fumble return for a touchdown.
Inside the Box Score – Dickinson
• Ben Klassen and Presley Egbers combined to go 16-of-34 for 134 yards through the air. They were sacked a combined four times on the day.
• Bobby Markey had a team-high five receptions for 37 yards, while Kellen Boyer (3-44) and Frederik Fjeldseth (3-26) combined for six of the Devils' other 11 receptions.
• Brendan Walker had a team-high eight tackles, while Cole Catalano had four tackles, including a sack, and forced a pair of fumbles, both of which were recovered by the Devils.
Notes of Interest
• Rich became the 31st player in Johns Hopkins history to reach 1,000 career rushing yards as his 81 yards today bump his career total to 1,053 yards.
• The Blue Jays extended their regular season home winning streak in the month fo November to 19 games dating backt to 2007.
• The Johns Hopkins defense has allowed a total of 33 points in its last five games. That's the fewest the Blue Jays have allowed over a five-game span since 2011, when JHU allowed 30 points in a five-game span early in the season.
Johns Hopkins close the regular season on Saturday, November 16 at McDaniel (12 pm).
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