Aug. 10, 2002
BALTIMORE, Md. -- For the second consecutive year, the Johns Hopkins football team has been picked to finish third in the preseason Centennial Conference football poll. The Blue Jays picked up one first-place vote and 54 points in the poll of the league's seven head coaches and seven sports information directors. McDaniel (9 first-place votes / 69 points) and Muhlenberg (4 / 62) were picked first and second, respectively after sharing the 2001 Centennial Conference title with identical 5-1 league records. Johns Hopkins placed third in the final 2001 standings with a 4-2 Centennial record while posting a 6-3 overall record.
Dickinson placed fourth in the poll with 39 points, while Ursinus (34), Gettysburg (23) and Franklin & Marshall (13) round out the list.
The Blue Jays return 11 starters from last season's team, including three who earned All-Centennial honors. Head coach Jim Margraff, who is entering his 13th season at Johns Hopkins and ranks as the all-time winningest coach in school history, must replace several three-year starters and eight players who earned Centennial Conference All-Star honors last season, but the Blue Jays should be strong in several areas.
Leading the way offensively will be senior center Kevin Kostibos, who returns for his fourth season as a starter after garnering First Team All-Centennial status as a junior. Kostibos is one of four returning starters to the offensive line, which should be among the deepest and most talented in the league. At running back, Margraff will look to senior Kevin Johnson and sophomore Adam Cook to carry the load. Johnson has gained over 1,000 yards in his first three years, while Cook ranked second on the team in rushing yards (460) and receptions (18) last season while also ranking third on the team in all-purpose yards (652).
Defensively, the interior of the defensive line appears set with Second Team All-Centennial selection Pat Doyle holding down one spot and junior Paul Smith holding down the other. Doyle finished sixth on the team in tackles last season (32), while Smith counted a team-high 14 tackles for losses among his 40 stops on the year. Senior captain Mike Little will anchor the linebacking crew after tying for the team-lead with 59 stops as a junior last season.
Johns Hopkins opens the 2002 season on the road at Washington & Lee on September 14. The Blue Jays then return home for three straight games against Rochester, Carnegie Mellon and Gettysburg. In all, Hopkins will play six of its 10 games at Homewood Field, where the Blue Jays are 21-8 (.724) since the beginning of the 1996 season and 44-17-2 (.714) since Margraff took over in 1990.
2002 Centennial Conference Preseason Football Poll
Rank School (1st-place votes) Points
1. McDaniel (9)-69
2. Muhlenberg (4)-62
3. Johns Hopkins (1)-54
4. Dickinson-39
5. Ursinus-34
6. Gettysburg-23
7. Franklin & Marshall-13
- 30 -
?
?
