The 2014 season has been special for the John Carroll University football team. More school records continued to fall on Saturday.
John Carroll (10-1) set the tone from the opening kickoff and never looked back in a 63-28 win over Centre College (10-1) in the first round of the 2014 NCAA Division III Football Championship.
JCU's previous high point total in an NCAA game was 30, set against Hanover in the first round of the 1997 Division III Football Championship. John Carroll would sail well past that total in the first half with 49 points in the opening stanza.
The Blue Streaks advance to play Wheaton next Saturday, Nov. 29. The site will be announced on Sunday, Nov. 23. Kickoff will be at noon local time.
With the win the Blue and Gold reached double-digit wins for just the third time in program history and first since 2002, Tom Arth's senior year.
For the third time this season, John Carroll returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. Kelly Culbertson took the opening kick 94 yards darting and shifting from side to side to keep free of the Colonels' special teams units.
Said Arth, "It's something, we put so much emphasis on our special teams. We spend so much time preparing our special teams units. So much practice time goes into it. It's great to see when that pays off on the field. That's where you win tight games and playoff games. It's going to come down to how you play on special teams."
The Blue and Gold's defense made it a 2-score game before the offense even set foot on the field. Michael Hollins led the charge with a 43-yard interception return for a touchdown to make it a 14-0 game less than three minutes into the game.
"It feels great," said Arth. "It was a great way to start. It's what we talked about this week. Having the advantage of playing at home, a team traveling, and coming out fast on people, great things usually happen."
From there it was Mark Myers' turn to shine.
The senior quarterback broke Arth's all-time career school record for touchdowns. Myers connected with Brendan Carozzoni on a 3-yard strike with 6:24 remaining in the fourth quarter. The touchdown was Myers' 90th of his career.
"I found that out at halftime," said Arth. "I didn't realize (before that). I knew he was getting close. I'm happy about that. I get joked. I get teased a lot about stuff like that. I think my name is going to be erased from the record book here shortly, which is a good thing. I had that hope for Mark when he first came here and I know he's capable of doing that."
For the game, the left-hander was nearly perfect going 24 for 30 for 264 yards and five scores.
Said Arth, "He's fortunate because he has some really special players to play with. We have an unbelievable running back and an unbelievable running game. We have great tight ends, great receivers and great playmakers. He's fortunate to have such great people around him. We're fortunate to have such a talented player."
The Blue Streaks' playmakers helped their quarterback out.
Two of the scores went to sophomore Marshall Howell. Howell hauled in touchdown strikes of 12 and 21 yards, the second matched the all-time single-season school record at 13.
Myers' other two scores came on an 8-yard pass to Carozzoni and a 12-yard screen to Tommy Michals.
Michals continued to run with purpose ripping off a 60-yard touchdown run with 34 seconds remaining in the first quarter. The senior added a 1-yard run for his eight game with multiple rushing touchdowns. Michals would finish with 150 yards on 17 carries.
John Carroll's defense continued to shine with three total takeaways on the afternoon.
Jared Donovan set up a quick score late in the second quarter. The junior intercepted Centre and returned the interception 32 yards setting John Carroll up on the 10-yard line.
Reese Armstrong capped the day with the Blue Streaks' third interception in the end zone as time expired.
"That's critical," said Arth on the turnover battle. "Every week that's probably the only statistic in football that means anything is the turnover margin. We were fortunate this week. We played very well. We took great care of the ball. We were able to turn them over three times. We got the ball on the round a few more we didn't get back. When you're ripping it out and getting interceptions, and you win the turnover battle, that's a key. That was an absolute key. That was the difference in this game."
JCU's defense made big plays when it needed to.
Centre drove down the field to start the third quarter and had first-and-goal from the John Carroll 1-yard line. The Blue Streaks' defensive line proved again why they are the "heart and soul" of the program.
David Porter stopped Colonel quarterback Devin Hayes just shy of the goal line. Andy Bryan and Justin Kravchuck pushed Centre back on third down. Tommy Murtaugh added a hurry on fourth down to thwart the scoring attempt.
In the fourth quarter, Jimmy King would come through on a fourth-and-1 play from the JCU 12-yard line.
Kevin Cope led the overall defensive effort with 14 total tackles.