Game Leaders
Team Stats
Passing Yards
Rushing Yards
Turnovers
Time of Poss.
BALTIMORE, Md. - Senior Eric Hoy (Clayton, N.C./Clayton) scored three rushing touchdowns, and senior Tre Frederick (Angier, N.C./West Johnston) picked up 116 yards on the ground as the Randolph-Macon football team led at halftime before falling 63-31 at No. 19 Johns Hopkins on Thursday evening to kick off the 2018 campaign.
The Blue Jays won the coin toss and deferred. The Yellow Jackets picked up one first down before their punt was blocked and returned for a touchdown, giving the host a 7-0 lead three minutes into the contest.
Senior Ryan Burns (Fredericksburg, Va./Colonial Forge) intercepted a pass on JHU's first possession, giving R-MC the ball on its 38-yard line. The Yellow Jackets used 11 plays to move 60 yards to the JHU 2, where sophomore Chris Vidal (Wake, N.C./Wake Forest) nailed a 20-yard field goal to make it a 7-3 game with five minutes left in the opening period.
Late in the first quarter, the Blue Jays drove to the R-MC 9. A 26-yard field goal attempt was blocked by senior Owen Ritter (York, Pa./Dallastown) and Ritter returned the ball 91 yards to the JHU 4. Hoy scored from four-yards out, giving the visitors a 10-7 lead with 47 seconds left in the first period.
The Blue Jays answered with a 71-yard TD drive to reclaim the lead at 14-10 with 13:45 remaining in the second quarter.
R-MC took the kickoff and drove 60 yards in 10 plays, capped by a 2-yard scoring run by Hoy to give the Yellow Jackets a 17-14 with 9:39 left until halftime.
JHU put together an impressive 98-yard drive to go ahead 21-17 midway through the second period.
The Yellow Jackets answered with their own long drive, going 75 yards in 17 plays in seven minutes. Junior Burke Estes (Wilmington, N.C./New Hanover) hit senior Sean McDonald (Clarke County, Va./Clarke County) on a one-yard TD pass with 14 seconds left as R-MC took a 24-21 advantage at intermission.
Frederick had 25 carries in the first half for 97 yards. Estes went 11 of 17 for 90 yards and one touchdown.
The Blue Jays scored on their first two possessions of the second half to take a 35-24 lead. Hoy scored from one-yard out late in the third period as R-MC trailed 35-31 heading to the final period. JHU tallied four TDs in the fourth quarter to make the final 63-31.
Estes finished 18 for 28 for 170 yards. Senior Christian Redman (North Chesterfield, Va./James River) was his favorite target, pulling in eight catches for 50 yards.
The Yellow Jackets ran 85 plays and held the ball for 38:44, compared to 21:16 for the Blue Jays.
Junior Calvin Whitehead (Richmond, Va./Hermitage) paced the R-MC defense with 10 tackles. Junior De'Angelo Barr (Washington, D.C./Fairfax) recorded eight tackles, all solo stops.
Randolph-Macon has its home opener on Saturday, Sept. 8 for a 6 p.m. contest against Averett at Day Field.