BALTIMORE, MD – The seventh-ranked Johns Hopkins football team rushed for a school playoff-record 439 yards and six touchdowns and outscored visiting Western Connecticut St. 48-7 in the second and third quarters combined in a 62-20 win over the Wolves in the first round of the NCAA Division III Playoffs Saturday afternoon at Homewood Field.
The Blue Jays improve to 11-0 and advance to the second round of the playoffs, where they will meet Union (NY), which topped Delaware Valley, 24-16, in the first round on Saturday. The location and time of that game, which will be played on Saturday, November 25, will be announced by Sunday afternoon.
The teams traded six scores in the first 17 minutes of the game with the Blue Jays building a 21-13 lead in that time. A Bay Harvey six-yard run and a pair of Geoff Schroeder scoring runs accounted for Hopkins' 21 points, while WestConn got a pair of field goals from Anthony Weidtman and a 73-yard touchdown reception from Dae-Shawn Allen.
The Blue Jays broke the game open in the final 6:15 of the second quarter as they scored three touchdowns in that span to build to a 41-20 halftime lead.
An Andrew Rich four-yard run capped an eight-play, 50-yard drive with just over six minutes on the second quarter clock to give the Blue Jays their first two-score lead of the game at 28-13, but the Wolves answered when Keion Jones hit Allen down the sideline on a third-and-10 play from their own 26 and Allen raced into the end zone to trim the deficit to 28-20 with 4:47 on the first-half clock.
The game changed over the final five minutes of the first half as the Blue Jays answered the Allen score with an eight-play, 78-yard drive that Rich capped with a three-yard scoring run to give Hopkins a 35-20 lead it appeared would make it to halftime as just 1:03 remained before the break.
However, the Wolves (7-3) pressed and moved out near midfield in the final minute before senior Zach Alligood picked off Jones at the Hopkins 46-yard line and returned it to the WestConn 35 with 29 seconds on the second-quarter clock. Four plays and 35 yards later, the Harvey scored on a one-yard run on second-and-goal with two seconds remaining to give the Blue Jays a 41-20 halftime lead.
Johns Hopkins added touchdowns on its first three possessions of the second half – all on touchdown passes from Harvey – to account for the 62-20 final score. Harvey connected with Burke Griffin (55 yards), Josh Polce (7) and Cole Crotty (75) before the third quarter was 13 minutes old to close out the scoring and move the Blue Jays into the second round.
Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
• The Blue Jays' record 439-yard rushing day was powered in large part by senior Spencer Uggla, who rushed for a career-high 216 yards on 25 carries. The 216 yards are the second-most in a playoff game by a Blue Jay and Schroeder added 100 yards to give JHU two 100-yard rushers in a playoff game for the first time in program history.
• The 439 rushing yards breaks the previous JHU playoff record of 400 (Frostburg St./2018) and ranks as the second-highest single-game total in school history.
• The 62 points are the most JHU has ever scored in a playoff game, breaking the previous record of 58 (Frostburg St./2018), and JHU's 700 yards of total offense is the third-highest single-game total in school history and the most ever in a playoff game.
• Harvey was 13-of-23 for 252 yards and three TDs and rushed for 64 yards and two scores.
• Jake Spivak paced the Blue Jay defense with a career-high seven tackles.
• After allowing 20 points and 332 yards in the first half, the Blue Jay defense held the Wolves to just 116 yards and no points after halftime.
Inside the Box Score – WestConn
• Allen had seven receptions for 259 yards and two touchdowns on the day.
• Jones was 16-of-43 for 355 yards and the two scores and he rushed for a team-high 44 yards.
• Chad Blaszky, who entered the game averaging more than 120 yards per game on the ground, was limited to just 34 yards on 12 carries.
• Raquell Davis posted a game-high 11 tackles for the Wolves, who also got nine stops from Deshaun Hardy-Walker.
• The 20 points for the Wolves are a season low and mark just the third time they've been held under 35.
Notes of Interest
• Johns Hopkins is 11-0 for the fourth time in school history (2014, 2015, 2016) and the Blue Jays extended their overall winning streak to 14 games dating back to last season. The 14-game run is one shy of the longest winning streak in school history (15/2010-11).
• The Blue Jays advance to the second round of the playoffs for the eighth time in program history, (2009, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2021, 2023).
- 30 -