Sept. 30, 2003

BALTIMORE, Md. -- The Johns Hopkins University football team slipped one spot to 24th in this week's American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division III Coaches' Poll, which was released today. The Blue Jays, who are 4-0 and have won a school-record eight straight games, were ranked 23rd in last week's poll - the highest national ranking in school history. Johns Hopkins defeated then undefeated Carnegie Mellon, 21-0 last Saturday in Pittsburgh.

Johns Hopkins received 181 points in this week's poll - 50 more than last week. The Blue Jays sit just behind Hardin-Simmons (TX) and just ahead of Salisbury (MD). Johns Hopkins has regularly been among the schools receiving votes in the poll (teams ranked 26th and below) in the last two years and finished the 2002 season ranked 32nd after claiming a share of the Centennial Conference title and winning the ECAC Southwest Championship. The Blue Jays were among those teams receiving votes in the first poll of the 2003 season (September 16) before jumping to the number 23 spot last week.

Johns Hopkins will carry its eight-game winning streak into this Saturday's game at Dickinson (2-1). The eight-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. This will be the first Centennial Conference game of the season for the Blue Jays and the Red Devils. Hopkins has won its last 12 Centennial openers under the guidance of head coach Jim Margraff.

Under 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 79-52-3 (.601) record and the 79 games Johns Hopkins has won under Margraff's guidance in 13-plus seasons are two more than Hopkins won in the previous 20 seasons combined. Since the beginning of the 1995 season, the Blue Jays are 55-28-1 (.661).

AFCA Division III Coaches' Poll

Through Games of 9-27-03

1. Mount Union (OH) (45) 3-0 1,126

2. St. John's (MN) (1) 3-0 1,099

3. Rowan (NJ) 3-0 974

4. Linfield (OR) 2-0 970

5. Mary-Hardin-Baylor (TX) 3-0 890

6. Wheaton (IL) 3-0 888

7. Brockport St. (NY) 4-0 851

8. Wisconsin-La Crosse 3-0 842

9. John Carroll (OH) 3-0 788

10. Wittenberg (OH) 3-0 706

11. Wisconsin-Stevens Point 3-0 661

12. Wartburg (IO) 3-0 621

13. Ithaca (NY) 3-0 532

14. Springfield (MA) 4-0 505

15. Lycoming (PA) 3-0 439

16. Washington & Jefferson (PA) 3-0 434

17. Baldwin Wallace (OH) 2-1 345

18. Wisconsin-Stout 2-1 321

19. Hampden-Sydney (VA) 3-0 307

20. Bridgewater (VA) 3-1 260

21. Trinity (TX) 3-1 259

22. Wooster (OH) 3-0 193

23. Hardin-Simmons (TX) 2-1 191

24. Johns Hopkins (MD) 4-0 181

25. Salisbury (MD) 3-0 90

Others Receiving Votes: St. Norbert-86, Christopher-Newport-80, Millikin-51, Capital-41, Hope-21, Simpson-19, Wabash-15, Western Connecticut-15, Wisconsin-Whitewater-13, Pacific Lutheran-10, Kalamazoo-8, Concordia-8, Trinity-7, College of New Jersey-6, Adrian-5, Hanover-4, Rensselaer-2, Wisconsin-Oshkosh-1, Olivet-1, Concordia-Moorhead-1, Loras-1.

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