BALTIMORE, MD – Almost every team, in every sport, has an outline for the perfect script to victory. After 13 games, including 10 consecutive victories, it's safe to say that the Johns Hopkins (12-1) football team knows its script pretty well.
On Saturday in the NCAA Quarterfinals against perennial national power Mary Hardin-Baylor (8-4), the host Blue Jays sprinted out to a 17-0 first-half lead, then stopped the Crusaders from inside their own 15-yard line in the last two minutes to seal a 17-10 victory that sends the Blue Jays into the NCAA Semifinals for the second time in program history.
Johns Hopkins will meet Mount Union, a 38-17 winner at Salisbury on Saturday, in the semifinals next Saturday (December 21).
After the teams traded punts to open the game, the Blue Jays took over at their own 20 and used a 76-yard strike from senior quarterback James Rinello to graduate student tight end Will Leger to move inside the Crusader five-yard line. There, the Crusaders, who also rode an impressive defense all season, held and the Blue Jays had to settle for a 23-yard Brad Paxton field goal late in the first quarter.
The three-point lead held until early in the second quarter, when the Blue Jays polished off a 10-play, 57-yard drive with a 14-yard touchdown strike from Rinello to sophomore Cole Crotty down the middle to push the lead to 10-0. Crotty's touchdown catch came on third-and-nine and marked third time on the drive and Rinello and Crotty connected to convert on a third down.
After the Blue Jay defense forced another quick Mary Hardin-Baylor punt, Johns Hopkins needed just five plays to go 71 yards with Rinello finding sophomore Robby Enright alone down the sideline from 36 yards out to extend the lead to 17-0 midway through the second quarter.
After the teams again traded punts, the Mary Hardin-Baylor offense took over at its own two-yard line with just under four minutes remaining in the half and Crusaders went 98 yards in nine plays and capped the drive with a Jake Wright-to-TJ Rone touchdown pass from four yards out. Twice the Crusaders converted on third down on the drive with Kamerin Ferguson taking a screen pass 46 yards down the sideline on a third-and-five to set the Cru up in the red zone. Five plays later, Wright hit Rone to make it 17-7.
The 17-7 score held until late in the third quarter, when the Crusaders capitalized on the second of two straight Blue Jay turnovers, although they were forced to settle for a field goal instead of touchdown. After Rinello was intercepted deep in Jay territory, the Johns Hopkins defense allowed just four yards on three plays before Edwin Lopez connected from 30 yards to make it a one-score game.
The Blue Jays would get to the Mary Hardin-Baylor 40 early in the fourth quarter before being forced to punt and the teams then traded two more punts before the Cru took over at their own 12 yard with 6:18 to play.
The Crusaders worked their way out near midfield before a Wright-to-Chris Gacayon 21-yard completion set Mary Hardin-Baylor up at the Blue Jay 26. Two plays later, the Crusaders were staring a first-and-10 from the Blue Jay 12 with three timeouts in their pocket and the two-minute timeout still to come.
For the eighth time this season, the Johns Hopkins defense was on the field and protecting a tight lead late in the game with the opponent threatening. For their eighth time, the Blue Jays went to the script.
Junior Isaac Urquidi got to Wright on third-and-10 and sacked him for a nine-yard loss to set up a fourth-and-19 from the 21. Under pressure almost immediately, Wright was sacked again, this time by sophomore Will Seibert, whose sack was the fifth of the day for the Blue Jays and forced a turnover on downs.
Still, with 1:57 on the clock and the Crusaders holding all three timeouts, the Blue Jays needed a first down to seal the victory. Two Geoff Schroeder runs, including a seven-yard run on second-and-eight, set the Jays up with a third-and-one at their own 38; a tush-push later and all that was left were a pair of kneel downs to seal the trip to the semifinals.
Build an early lead and ride a "there-are-just-no-words" performance by the defense to victory.
The Blue Jays seemed to have mastered that script.
Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
• Rinello was 21-of-29 for a career-high 312 yards and one touchdown.
• Leger had six receptions for a career-best 139 yards; the 76-yard second-quarter reception was also the longest of his career.
• Five different players – Carson Bourdo, PJ Penders, Cole Peters, Matthew Konkol and Oliver Craddock – tied for the team-lead with seven tackles to pace the Blue Jays defensively.
• Urquidi had a career-best two of Hopkins' five sacks on the day. In all, the Blue Jays had 11 tackles for loss, including the five sacks, with junior Xavier Newell ringing up a personal-best three TFLs in the victory.
Inside the Box Score – Mary Hardin-Baylor
• Wright finished 21-of-35 for 228 yards and the one touchdown.
• Rone had a team-high six receptions for 36 yards and AJ Williams had four catches for a team-high 75 yards.
• Asa Osbourn rushed for a team-high 31 yards, but the Crusaders as a team were held to 29 rushing yards when factoring in the sacks.
• Durand Hill posted a game-high 10 tackles with one TFL, one fumble recovery and one pass breakup.
• Te'Ron Brown had two of the Crusaders' four sacks on the day and forced a fumble on one that killed a Blue Jay scoring threat inside the Mary Hardin-Baylor 20-yard line in the third quarter.
Notes of Interest
• Johns Hopkins tied the school record with its 12th win of the season.
• The Blue Jays' 10-game winning streak is the 10th winning streak of 10 or more games in program history; all 10 have come since 2002.
• The Blue Jays have held their three playoff opponents to a total of 33 points and 87 rushing yards.
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