Sept. 16, 2003

BALTIMORE, Md. -- Fresh off a 36-7 win over Washington & Lee and riding the crest of a six-game winning streak that dates back to last season, the Johns Hopkins football team is ranked 27th in the initial 2003 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division III Coaches' Poll, which was released today. The Blue Jays are currently 2-0 after opening the season with a 27-9 win at Rochester a week before the win over W&L.

Johns Hopkins received 85 points in the poll to earn its number 27 ranking. Coe College of Iowa received 144 points and is ranked 26th, while Hardin-Simmons (TX) is ranked 25th and received 145 points. This is the second-highest national ranking in Johns Hopkins football history. Last season, after opening with five consecutive wins, the Blue Jays crested at a program-best number 26 in the AFCA Poll of October 15, 2002. JHU was tied for 32nd in the final AFCA Poll of the 2002 season after claiming a share of the Centennial Conference title and winning the ECAC Southwest Championship.

Johns Hopkins will carry a six-game winning streak into this Saturday's game against Randolph-Macon (0-2). The six-game winning streak is the longest active winning streak in the Centennial Conference and the longest active winning streak by a college football team in the state of Maryland. The six-game winning streak is also one shy of the school-record for consecutive victories. Johns Hopkins has won seven straight on four different occasions. The most recent seven-game winning streak covered the final two games of the 2001 season and the first five games of the 2002 season.

Under the guidance of 14th-year head coach Jim Margraff, the Blue Jay football program has enjoyed a great deal of success since 1990. Margraff ranks as the all-time winningest football coach in school history with a 77-52-3 (.595) record and the 77 games Johns Hopkins has won under Margraff's guidance in 13-plus seasons are five more than Hopkins had won in the previous 19 seasons combined. Since the beginning of the 1995 season, the Blue Jays are 53-28-1 (.652).

AFCA Division III Coaches' Poll * Through Games of 9-13-03

1. Mount Union (VA) (45) 1-0 1,125

2. St. John's (MN) (1) 1-0 1,056

3. Trinity (TX) 2-0 1,037

4. Rowan (NJ) 2-0 878

5. Linfield (OR) 1-0 856

6. Bridgewater (VA) 2-0 837

7. Wisconsin-Stout 1-0 792

8. Wheaton (IL) 1-0 761

9. Brockport St. (NY) 2-0 742

10. Baldwin-Wallace (OH) 1-0 729

11. Mary-Hardin-Baylor (TX) 1-0 645

12. Wisconsin LaCrosse 2-0 565

13. Wittenberg (OH) 2-0 630

14. John Carroll (OH) 1-0 520

15. Ithaca (NY) 1-0 507

16. Central (IO) 1-0 441

17. Wisconsin-Stevens Point 2-0 362

18. Wartburg (IO) 1-0 339

19. Springfield (MA) 2-0 336

20. Washington & Jefferson (PA) 1-0 299

21. Hanover (IN) 2-0 292

22. Lycoming (PA) 1-0 285

23. Hampden-Sydney (VA) 2-0 203

24. College of New Jersey 2-0 155

25. Hardin-Simmons (TX) 0-1 145

Others Receiving Votes: Coe-144, Johns Hopkins-85, Salisbury-73, Wabash-34, Augustana-30, Woost-26, Pacific Lutheran-23, Capital-18, Christopher Newport-13, King's Point-10, Wisconsin-Whitewater-10, Howard Payne-9, St. Norbert-8, Rensselaer-7, Millikin-7, Bethel-7, King's-6, Western Connecticut-6, Cortland State-6, Dickinson-6, Concordia-Moorehead-3, Muhlenberg-3, Whitworth-2, Wilkes-2, Ferrum-2, McDaniel-2, Case Western-1, Concordia-1, Kalamazoo-1.

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