Oct. 16, 2004

Box Score

GETTYSBURG, PA - Johns Hopkins junior quarterback Zach DiIonno (West Caldwell, NJ/James Caldwell) threw for 280 yards and three touchdowns and the Blue Jays used a 30-0 scoring run to turn a 10-7 deficit into a 37-10 advantage midway through the fourth quarter as Hopkins knocked off Gettysburg, 37-17. The win is the second straight and 19th in the last 21 games for the Blue Jays, who improve to 5-1, 2-1 in the Centennial Conference. Gettysburg dropped its ninth straight overall and 10th straight against JHU and falls to 0-6, 0-2.

Tom Sturges (Ridgefield, CT/Ridgefield) gave Gettysburg a 10-7 lead with a one-yard touchdown run to cap an eight-play, 72-yard drive late in the second quarter, but the Blue Jays answered with 10 points in the final 90 seconds of the period to take a 17-10 lead at the half.

DiIonno orchestrated a six-play, 69-yard drive that he polished off with an 18-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Anthony Triplin (Baltimore, MD/Gilman). Triplin caught four passes for 51 yards on the drive and weaved his way across the field on a flanker screen and raced into the corner of the end zone to give the Blue Jays the lead for good at 14-10.

The Blue Jay defense forced a quick Gettysburg punt on its ensuing possession and DiIonno quickly moved the Blue Jays into field goal range in the final 30 seconds of the half. Completions to Triplin, senior Brian Wolcott (Harding, PA/Wyoming Area) and senior Adam Cook (New Freedom, PA/Susquehannock) moved the Blue Jays from their own 30 to the Bullet 26, where sophomore Ben Scott (Pittsburgh, PA/Shady Side Academy) nailed a career-best 43-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter to push the lead to 17-10.

After the teams traded possessions early in the third quarter, Hopkins gained a little breathing room with a nine-play, 44-yard touchdown drive that was setup by the first of junior Adam Colicchio's (Martinsville, NJ/Immaculata) two interceptions in the game. The Blue Jays converted a pair of third downs in the scoring drive, which was capped by Cook's one-yard touchdown run with 8:26 remaining in the third quarter.

Colicchio's second interception of the game also led to a JHU touchdown. DiIonno completed 4-of-6 passes on this scoring drive and junior T.J. Lyons (Paramus, NJ/Paramus) went in from one-yard out on second-and-goal to push the lead to 30-10 with less than a minute to play in the third quarter.

After a 45-minute lightening delay at the end of the third quarter, the Blue Jays finished their scoring for the day and once again it was an interception that led to a touchdown. This time, senior safety Matt Campbell (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough) picked off a Joe Gossweiler (Florham Park, NJ/Hanover Park) pass at the Hopkins 36-yard line and returned it to the Gettysburg 39. Nine plays later DiIonno threw his second touchdown pass of the game to Wolcott from five yards out to give JHU a 37-10 lead. The interception for Campbell was the 16th of his career, which moves him into sole possession of second place on JHU's career interception list.

Gettysburg closed the scoring with just under two minutes remaining on the most efficient of scoring drives. After Scott Shepard (Berkeley Heights, NJ/Governor Livingston) intercepted a Brian Schiller (Scotch Plains, NJ/Scotch Plains) pass and returned it to the Blue Jay one-yard line, the Bullets needed just one play to score as Jerry Jones (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) closed out the scoring with a one-yard run to account for the final scoring.

DiIonno's 280 yard are the second-highest total of his career and the 17th-highest single-game total in school history. Triplin and Wolcott both topped the 100-yard receiving mark as Triplin had a career-high 13 receptions for 123 yards and the one touchdown, while Wolcott had nine receptions for 111 yards and two touchdowns. Triplin's 13 receptions are tied for the second-highest single-game total in school history, while Wolcott became just the fifth receiver in school history to reach 2,000 career receiving yards as he now has 123 receptions for 2,000 yards and 22 touchdown receptions. He is now tied for second on JHU's career TD receptions list (Joe Richards).

Sturgess rushed for a game-high 77 yards and one touchdown, but just eight of those yards came after halftime as the Blue Jay defense limited the Bullets to just 50 yards of total offense on 28 plays in the second half. Gossweiler was 10-of-23 for 104 yards with four interceptions. He was also sacked twice. Gettysburg's Grant Acker (Howell, NJ/Peddie School) led all players with 12 tackles, including 11 solos.

Johns Hopkins will return to Homewood Field next Saturday when the Blue Jays host Muhlenberg at 1:00 pm. Gettysburg will host Ursinus next Saturday at 1:00 pm as well.