Nov. 10, 2001

WESTMINSTER, Md. -- Johns Hopkins senior wide receiver Zach Baylin (Wilmington, DE/Tatnall) set a school record with 14 receptions for 120 yards and a career-high three touchdowns and the Blue Jay defense came up with interceptions deep in Hopkins territory on Western Maryland's last two possessions as the Blue Jays stunned ninth-ranked Western Maryland, 21-14 at Bair Stadium Saturday afternoon. The win is the second straight for the Blue Jays, who end the regular season at 6-3, 4-2 in the Centennial Conference. The Green Terror had an eight-game overall winning streak and a 33-game Centennial Conference winning streak snapped and slip to 8-2, 5-1. The last game Western Maryland had lost to a Centennial opponent was on November 16, 1996, when Hopkins posted a 13-3 win at Homewood Field.

Ninth-ranked Western Maryland is the highest-ranked team Johns Hopkins has ever defeated in football and the Blue Jays end the regular season without having surrendered a touchdown pass on the year. Dayton, in 1980, was the last NCAA Division III team to go through a season without allowing a touchdown pass. Amherst, which lost to Williams, 23-20 on Saturday, also did not allow a touchdown pass this season.

Baylin, who finishes his career as the second all-time leading receiver in Johns Hopkins and Centennial Conference history with 191 career receptions, capped a nine-play, 66-yad drive with a two-yard touchdown reception with 7:58 remaining in the fourth quarter to give the Blue Jays a 21-14 lead. Still, Western Maryland had two more chances to tie and force overtime.

The Green Terror took the ball at their own 20-yard line after Baylin's touchdown and drove to the Hopkins 16-yard line with just under five minutes remaining. There, on fourth and nine, Western Maryland quarterback Jamie Harris threw the first of two interceptions as junior linebacker Mike Little (Red Bank, NJ/Middletown South) picked off a pass down the middle at the Hopkins five yard line to kill the drive.

The Blue Jays appeared to convert a third and six on their ensuing possession when senior Rob Heleniak (Philadelphia, PA/Germantown Academy) found Baylin near the sideline behind the defense at midfield. However, Baylin was ruled to have gone out of bounds and come back in, negating the reception and forcing a Blue Jay punt.

After sophomore Chris Smolyn's (Randolph, NJ/Lenape Valley) 46-yard punt was downed at the Western Maryland 34-yard line, the Green Terror had one more chance with 2:59 remaining. Harris completed a 30-yard pass to senior Chris Hamilton to the Johns Hopkins 36-yard line on first down, giving the Green Terror plenty of time to threaten (Hamilton was injured on the play and the game was delay nearly 25 minutes while he was taken off in an ambulance). On first down, Harris rushed for five yards to make it second and five at the 31. He was stopped for no gain on second down and sacked for a nine-yard loss on third down to make it fourth and 14 from the 40. Harris attempted to go back over the middle, only to have Johns Hopkins senior linebacker Marc Della Pia (West Caldwell, NJ/James Caldwell) come up with his first interception of the year and the JHU 25-yard line to seal the victory.

Western Maryland took an early 7-0 lead when Harris capped a 14-play, 79-yard drive with a nine-yard scoring run with 4:29 remaining in the first quarter. However, after gaining 39 yards on their first possession and 79 on the scoring drive, the Johns Hopkins defense stiffened and the Green Terror managed just 41 yards on their remaining five possessions in the first half, while Hopkins began to assert itself on offense.

After missing out on a pair of scoring chances with two missed field goals, the Blue Jays tied the game with 10 seconds remaining in the second quarter when Heleniak found Baylin in the back corner of the end zone for the first of their three scoring connections.

With the momentum gained from the late score in the second quarter, Hopkins took the opening possession of the second half and drove 69 yards on 11 plays, capped by a two-yard TD pass from Heleniak to Baylin to make it 14-7.

The seven-point lead stood until early in the fourth quarter when Harris capped a seven-play, 33-yard drive with an eight-yard touchdown run to make it 14-14 with 14:05 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Hopkins went three and out on its ensuing possession and the Green Terror were given good field position when French Pope returned a Smolyn punt 14 yards to the Western Maryland 49-yard line. Four plays later the Terror were sitting at first and 10 on the Johns Hopkins 26-yard line, before the Blue Jays forced the first of three straight fourth-quarter turnovers. Senior wide receiver Teron Powell tried to sweep around the left end, only to fumble and have Johns Hopkins' sophomore defensive lineman Hayes Griffin (Pearl River, NY/Pearl River) recover at the Blue Jay 34-yard line. Nine plays and 66 yards later, Heleniak's two-yard scoring pass to Baylin provided the final margin.

Baylin's 14 receptions broke the previous Johns Hopkins single-game record of 13, which had been set twice previously by Johns Hopkins' all-time leading receiver Bill Stromberg in 1980 and 1981. His three touchdown receptions also increase his career total to 19, tying him for third all-time at JHU, while his 120 yards receiving made him just the fourth Hopkins wide receiver to top 2,000 career receiving yards. He now has 2, 041.

Heleniak completed a career-high 28 passes on 45 attempts for 242 yards and the three touchdowns. He was intercepted once on the day, but was not sacked. Senior Scott Martorana (Long Valley, NJ/W. Morris Central) led an efficient ground game with 53 yards on 14 carries, while junior Kevin Johnson (Baltimore, MD/City) came off the bench in the second half and carried seven times for 37 yards. In the process, he topped the 1,000-yard rushing mark for his career as he now has 1,007. Martorana's 53-yard effort made him just the eighth player in school history to top 1,700 career rushing yards as he finishes his career with 1,710. Senior place kicker Matt Andrade (Wyoming, DE/Caesar Rodney) converted all three of his extra point attempts to tie the Centennial Conference record for most consecutive successful extra point attempts (27).

Harris led the way for Western Maryland with a game-high 130 yards rushing on 32 attempts with the two touchdowns. However, playing against the top-ranked pass defense in the nation entering the game, he was just 8-of-16 for 117 yards and the two late interceptions. Junior Jemel Johnson added 63 yards on 13 carries and Powell led the Terror with four receptions for 63 yards. However, Western Maryland was held over 30 points and nearly 100 yards below its season averages entering the game.

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