Oct. 3, 2015
HUNTINGDON, PA – Eighth-ranked Johns Hopkins raced out to a 17-0 lead at the end of the first quarter, pushed the lead to 31-5 at the half and cruised to a 41-5 victory at Juniata Saturday afternoon. The Blue Jays improve to 5-0 overall and 4-0 in the Centennial Conference with the victory, while the Eagles drop their fourth straight and slip to 1-4 overall and 0-4 in the Centennial.
In addition, to running its season-opening winning streak to five games, the Blue Jays also ran their regular season winning streak to 26 games, their October winning streak to 16 games and their regular season road winning streak to 13 games.
After stopping the Eagles on their opening possession, the Blue Jays needed just nine plays to go 65 yards and capped the drive with a three-yard touchdown pass from Jonathan Germano to Quinn Donaldson. A 23-yard run by senior Brandon Cherry provided the big play on the drive as that moved the ball inside the Eagle 10; three plays later Germano hit Donaldson on a slant to open the scoring.
Another quick three-and-out for the Eagles set the Blue Jays up at the Juniata 44 and it took just nine plays for Hopkins to double its lead. A key fourth-down conversion at the Juniata 19 kept the drive alive and junior Stuart Walters got to the outside from three yards out to make it 14-0. A 37-yard field goal by junior Nick Campbell in the final minute of the period accounted for the final points of the quarter for Johns Hopkins.
Germano had a hand in both touchdowns for Johns Hopkins in the second quarter as he polished off a nine-play, 75-yard drive early in the period with a 14-yard touchdown pass to junior Bradley Munday. Munday took the pass in stride over the middle and out-raced the defense to the pylon to push the lead to 24-0.
The Eagles got on the board just over two minutes after Munday's touchdown as a high snap sailed over punter Brandon Hong's head and out of the back of the end zone to make it 24-2 with just over eight minutes left in the first half. The Eagles put together their best drive of the game late in the second quarter and Kevin Bonalle's 21-yard field goal was the final play in an impressive 15-play, 84-yard drive.
Bonalle's field goal came with 66 seconds left in the first half; as it turned out, that was enough time for Johns Hopkins to tack on another touchdown.
After Walters returned the kickoff following Bonalle's field goal to the Blue Jay 49, Johns Hopkins covered 51 yards in six plays with Germano scrambling in from 15 yards out to account for the 31-5 halftime lead.
A scoreless third quarter was followed by a 10-point effort for Johns Hopkins in the fourth that closed out the scoring. Campbell's 22-yard field goal with just under 10 minutes remaining made it 34-5 and Drew Tomaini added a three-yard touchdown run with 2:09 to play to account for the 41-5 final score.
Germano was 30-of-41 for 287 yards with the two touchdowns and also rushed for 34 yards and the other score. The 30 completions and 41 attempts are both career highs, while the 287 yards are the second-highest total of his career.
Munday was his favorite target as he had 12 receptions for 104 yards and the one score, while Donaldson added five receptions for 87 yards and one touchdown. Cherry and Walters combined for 136 yards and one touchdown on the ground and Johns Hopkins ran a season-high 92 plays that accounted for 475 yards.
Juniata managed just 194 yards on 67 plays, including just 88 yards on 39 first-half plays. Keith Corliss led Johns Hopkins with six tackles, while sophomore Michael Munday had a career-high five pass breakups.
The Blue Jays held Juniata quarterback Hank Coyne to a 13-of 34 showing for 123 yards; Coyne entered the game averaging just under 245 yards per game. Hunter Phillips had a team-high six receptions for 59 yards, while Kirby Breault, the Centennial Conference's leading receiver, had three catches for 48 yards. The Eagles generated just 65 yards rushing on 31 attempts and their longest rush of the game covered just seven yards.
Johns Hopkins is off next weekend and will return to action on Friday, October 16 when the Blue Jays welcome Dickinson to Homewood Field. Kickoff against the Red Devils is set for 7 pm.
Notes: Germano's 30 completions are the most by a Johns Hopkins quarterback since Robbie Matey had 31 against Randolph-Macon in 2013 • Junior Jack Toner recorded the 100th tackle of his career (101) • Bradley Munday became the 12th player in school history to go over 1,500 career receiving yards (1,565) • Since 2011, when the Centennial Conference went to a league-wide bye after the fifth game of the season, Johns Hopkins is now 25-0 in games played before its bye.
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