BALTIMORE, Md. – The nationally ranked No. 9 Ithaca College football team fell to No. 18 Johns Hopkins University, 27-17, in the 2023 season opener at Homewood Field in what was the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
The Bombers received the opening kickoff and began their first drive of the season from the 27-yard line. IC was unable to pick up a first down and was forced to punt, which was a 47-yarder from Darren Brunner.
Johns Hopkins marched 69 yards on nine plays in its initial drive of the season to take a 7-0 on a 5-yard pass from Bay Harvey to Josh Polce with 8:59 left. The drive was aided by a 39-yard completion from Harvey to Polce.
IC responded with a scoring drive of its own to knot the game at 7-7 as A.J. Wingfield found Julien Deumaga for a 12-yard completion at the 6:14 mark. During the drive, Jake Williams rushed for 31 yards on four carries as the Bombers started with a short field after an attempted onside kick by Hopkins.
Williams accounted for 81 yards on the ground in the first half on 13 attempts.
The Bombers took a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter on a 25-yard field goal from Derek Baldin after Hopkins missed a short field goal try on the previous possession.
After that, Hopkins scored 14 unanswered points to take a 21-10 lead into halftime. The first touchdown came on a 54-yard strike from Harvey to Cole Crotty with 9:19 to go and then Harvey scored on a 1-yard keeper with 2:30 on the clock.
Hopkins outgained Ithaca, 237-181, in the first half.
In the third quarter, IC and Hopkins couldn't generate much offense of the first possessions, but the Blue Jays put together a threatening drive late in the quarter. It quickly came to an end as Ben Stola intercepted a pass over the middle of the field with 5:37 left.
Ithaca would turn the ball over on downs on the ensuing possession and then Hopkins needed just two plays to extend its lead to 27-10 on 45- and 27-yard completions with 2:41 to go in the third quarter. The extra point attempt was blocked.
The Bombers cut their deficit to 10 points at 27-17 as Wingfield hit Sam Kline for a 48-yard completion with 10:56 left in the game. The drive was set up by a 10-yard run from Jalen Leonard-Osbourne and a 15-yard scamper by Wingfield.
Ithaca forced a quick possession on Hopkins' next drive but was unable to capitalize as IC could not convert on fourth down and finished the game 0-for-4 on fourth down conversions. The Blue Jays took over with 5:29 remaining in the contest and ran out the clock to finish off the 27-17 victory.
Wingfield threw for 151 yards and two touchdowns but only completed 11-of-30 attempts in the game. He also ran for 53 yards on 10 carries.
Williams finished the day with 85 yards on 14 attempts, while Leonard-Osbourne had 53 yards receiving and 26 yards rushing. Kline led the receivers with 75 yards on three catches.
Defensively, Stola notched 10 total tackles, including seven solo. Jake Connolly added eight stops, while Jonathan Koumas finished with six tackles.
Hopkins would finish the game with a 419-326 edge in total yardage and picked up 23 first down to 17 for IC. Penalties were a factor in the game as there were 23 combined flags accepted for 238 yards.
Ithaca will look to get on the winning track next Saturday, September 9 with a 12 p.m. road game at Endicott.
No. 9 Ithaca Drops Opener at No. 18 Johns Hopkins, 27-17
/seasons/2023/boxscores/20230902_at38.xml
2023
Ithaca
17
Johns Hopkins
27
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 19 Ithaca (0-1) | 7 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| No. 7 Johns Hopkins (1-0) | 7 | 14 | 6 | 0 | 27 |
Sep 02, 2023