BALTIMORE, MD – The eighth-ranked Johns Hopkins football team scored touchdowns on its first five possessions to jump out to a 34-14 lead and then held off a furious rally by visiting Muhlenberg as the Blue Jays topped the Mules, 34-27, at Homewood Field Friday night. Johns Hopkins snaps a two-game losing streak in the series and improves to 6-0 overall and 5-0 in the Centennial with the victory, while the Mules slip to 3-3 overall and 3-2 in the Centennial.
After the teams battled evenly to a 14-all tie through the first 20 minutes of the game, the Blue Jays took control with a 20-point run that gave them the 34-14 lead early in the third quarter.
A 19-yard Danny Wolf touchdown run capped an 11-play, 75-yard drive to make it 21-14 midway through the second quarter and Quinn Revere caught a five-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Stevens just 23 seconds before halftime to give the Blue Jays a 27-14 lead at the break. Revere's touchdown was the eighth and final play in an 80-yard drive; three of Hopkins' four first-half touchdowns covered at least 75 yards, while the fourth was set up by a Nick Seidel interception at the Muhlenberg 44-yard line.
The 27-14 lead was up to 34-14 when Stevens polished off Hopkins' first drive of the second half with seven-yard scoring run – that drive also covered 75 yards and took 12 plays, but that would be the last time the Blue Jays would score.
The 20-point lead held until late in the third quarter, when the Mules capitalized on an Alex Batista interception at the Blue Jay 38-yard line. It took just three plays for the Mules to turn the interception into a touchdown as Joe Repetti found Thomas Jenkins down the middle from 15-yards out to pull the Mules within 34-20.
After forcing a Blue Jay punt, Muhlenberg then pieced together an eight-play, 84-yard drive that Repetti capped with a nine-yard strike to James Nye in the back of the end zone with just over nine minutes remaining.
The Blue Jays proceeded to eat more than six minutes off the clock on their ensuing possession as they started at their 20 and worked their way to the Muhlenberg 19. The Blue Jays converted on a pair of fourth-downs – one from their own 29 and another on a fake punt from the Muhlenberg 49 - that kept the drive alive. A 34-yard run by Emmett Turner on the fake punt set the Blue Jays up at the Muhlenberg 15 with less than four minutes remaining, but the Mule defense stiffened and forced a field goal attempt that was blocked.
Taking over at their own 23, the Mules worked their way out to midfield, but a completed pass resulted in a two-yard loss and three straight incompletions sealed the win for the Blue Jays. Chris Bedell batted away one of those attempts and PJ Penders knocked away Repetti's fourth-down pass to Jenkins with 1:14 on the clock and the Blue Jays kneeled it out for the victory.
Wolf rushed for a game-high 130 yards and two touchdowns and Stevens added 80 yards rushing and the one score and threw for 139 and two others. Wolf and Stevens powered a rushing attack that generated 309 yards on the night for Johns Hopkins.
Duncan Van Kouteren and Ross Andersson paced the Blue Jay defense with 10 tackles apiece, while Seidel and Matt Dubois each had interceptions. The Johns Hopkins limited the Mules to 77 yards rushing in the victory.
Repetti was 26-of-37 for 272 yards and four touchdowns, while Nye had eight receptions for 106 yards and three scores to lead the way offensively for the Mules. John Lohrer posted a game-high 12 tackles, including two for losses, while Tyler Ekstrom and Keshon Davila both had nine stops on the night.
Notes: Johns Hopkins rushed for 309, the most for the Blue Jays since a 400-yard rushing effort in a 58-27 win at sixth-ranked Frostburg in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Playoffs. Wolf's two rushing touchdowns give him 30 in his career – he is just the fourth player in school history with 30 or more rushing touchdowns. In the last four games the Blue Jay defense has allowed a total of 163 yards rushing. Johns Hopkins is now 36-3 in its last 39 games in the month of October and the Jays have won 14 straight home games on Friday nights.
Johns Hopkins will return to Homewood Field on Saturday, October 23 when the Blue Jays welcome Gettysburg for another Centennial Conference game (1 pm).
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