BALTIMORE, MD – The 14th-ranked Johns Hopkins football team got a late defensive stand to thwart a fourth-quarter rally by visiting Christopher Newport as the Blue Jays slipped past the Captains, 20-14, at Homewood Field Saturday night. The Blue Jays improve to 2-0 on the year and run their home winning streak to 14 games with the victory, while the Captains fall to 1-1 with the loss.
The Blue Jays appeared to be in control after Bay Harvey hit Will Leger in the back of the end zone to give Hopkins a 20-7 lead midway through the third quarter, but they would need two fourth quarter stops in their own territory to secure the victory.
The Captains answered Leger's touchdown with an 18-play, 62-yard drive that took them down to the Blue Jay one-yard line, but a pair of stops from the one and an unsportsmanlike penalty on CNU eventually led to a fourth-and-goal from the 10 and a pass over the middle fell incomplete to end the threat.
Still, the Captains forced a Hopkins punt on its ensuing possession and needed just seven plays to go 80 yards with Connor Barry capping the drive with a 40-yard touchdown pass to Colin Hart with just over eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to pull within 20-14.
Hopkins milked nearly five minutes off the clock after Hart's touchdown, but a Logan Baker interception at the goal line gave the Captains one last chance with just over three minutes remaining.
Christopher Newport got a 46-yard Barry-to-Gunner White pass play to move into Blue Jay territory with more than 90 seconds on the clock, but a pair of sacks and a false start forced the Captains into a fourth-and 28 situation and Josh Andersson knocked away the final attempt to seal the victory.
White had opened the scoring for Christopher Newport with a 19-yard touchdown catch early in the first quarter and that lead held until early in the second period, when Andersson returned an interception 25 yards for a touchdown to get the Blue Jays on the board.
The Blue Jays had a 14-7 lead at the half as Leger recovered a fumble in the end zone (officially a 0-yard touchdown reception) after freshman Cole Crotty was upended at the goal line and fumbled forward with Leger covering it for the score.
Leger's three-yard touchdown reception then capped a 15-play, 85-yard drive that ate nearly seven minutes off the clock to open the second half and give the Blue Jays the 20-7 lead. That lead held until Hart's score cut the deficit to 20-14 and set up Andersson's late-game pass breakup that locked down the victory.
Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
• Andersson had two tackles, the one pass breakup and the interception return for a touchdown. He is the first JHU player to return an INT for a touchdown since Macauley Kilbane took one back 49 yards for a score against McDaniel in 2021.
• Cole Peters led the Blue Jay defense with a career-high 10 tackles and had one of JHU's four sacks in the victory, while Zach Alligood added a personal-best seven tackles, including 2.5 for losses and a sack on CNU's next-to-last offensive play of the game.
• Harvey was 18-of-229 for 229 yards and two touchdowns with Josh Polce (6-109-0) and Crotty (5-66-0) his favorite targets.
• Schroeder rushed for a career-high 72 yards and added two receptions for 15 yards.
Inside the Box Score – Christopher Newport
• CNU starting quarterback Matt Dzierski was 7-of-12 for 71 yards with one touchdown and one interception and he also rushed for a game-high 74 yards.
• White rushed 15 times for 64 yards and added two receptions for 60 yards.
• Kindrick Braxton had a team-high 10 tackles, one forced fumble and one pass breakup to lead the CNU defense.
• The Captains held JHU to 324 yards and the 20 points they allowed snapped a streak of 18 straight games for Johns Hopkisn with at least 27 points scored.
Notes of Interest
• JHU id now 47-4 in its last 51 games played in the month of September.
• Tonight's game was the first-ever between Johns Hopkins and Christopher Newport.
Johns Hopkins will return to action on Saturday, September 16 when the Blue Jays hit the road for the first time this season with a game at Salisbury (2 pm).
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