Nov. 13, 2004

Box Score

BALTIMORE, Md. -- The Johns Hopkins defense came up with two big stops in the final four minutes of the game, scored the Blue Jays' only touchdown and set up what proved to be the winning points as Hopkins knocked off visiting McDaniel, 12-9 at Homewood Field Saturday afternoon. With the win the Blue Jays clinch a share of their third straight Centennial Conference Championship and finish the season at 8-2 overall, 4-2 in the Centennial. McDaniel is one of four other teams that also earned a share of the title (Muhlenberg, Dickinson, Franklin & Marshall) as the Green Terror finish the regular season with a 6-3 overall record, including a 4-2 mark in the Centennial. Muhlenberg, via the league's strength of schedule tie-breaker, will receive the league's automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Playoffs.

In a defensive battle that featured just one offensive touchdown, the Blue Jays got on the board first when junior linebacker Max Whitacre (Sugarloaf, PA/Bishop Hafey) scooped up a fumble and raced 17 yards into the end zone for a touchdown with 9:36 remaining in the second quarter. Junior defensive lineman Alan Cody (North Bergen, NJ/St. Peter's Prep) sacked McDaniel quarterback Matt Fliger (Rockville, MD/Magruder) on the play and forced a fumble that Whitacre recovered along the sideline. He tiptoed down the sideline for Hopkins' first non-offensive touchdown of the season.

The Blue Jays held the 7-0 lead until the beginning of the third quarter, when McDaniel rode the running of Broderick Maybank (Baltimore, MD/Eastern Tech) and Jason Hartman (Baltimore, MD/Eastern Tech) to its only touchdown of the game. Maybank carried four times for 53 yards on the first four plays of the drive and Hartman took over from there as he carried three times for 22 yards, the last 11 of which resulted in the touchdown.

The Blue Jay defense once again came up with a big play late in the third quarter as Chris Whitehorne (Wayne, NJ/DePaul Catholic) forced a Hartman fumble at midfield that Cody recovered at the McDaniel 35-yard line. Cody had a wall of blockers with him and was heading to the end zone when he dropped the ball at the Green Terror 16-yard line. Sophomore Brian Cook (New Freedom, PA/Susquehannock) fell on the ball for the Blue Jays and Hopkins got a 31-yard field goal by sophomore Ben Scott (Pittsburgh, PA/Shady Side Academy) several plays later to take a 10-7 lead with 10 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

The lead swelled to 12-7 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game when the snap on a McDaniel punt attempt sailed over Green Terror punter Corey Allen's (Rockville, MD/Magruder) head into the back of the end zone and all Allen could do was fall on the ball for the safety.

Hopkins had a chance to get some breathing room, but McDaniel's defense forced an Adam Cook (New Freedom, PA/Susquehannock) fumble on first down on JHU's ensuing possession and the Green Terror began their march towards the end zone. McDaniel used nine plays and just under six minutes off the clock and had a third-and-goal at the Blue Jay two-yard line. Maybank was stopped at the one-yard line by Matt Campbell (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough) and Mike Barrasso (New Freedom, PA/Susquehannock) on third-and-goal and Hartman was stopped short of the goal line on fourth down by Whitacre and Matt Hagel (Linwood, NJ/Mainland) to halt the drive on downs.

Three short running plays netted four yards for the Blue Jays and Scott intentionally ran out of the end zone to avoid the possibility of a blocked punt on fourth down. Scott's ensuing free kick was returned by McDaniel's Chris Martin (Clarksville, MD/River Hill) to the Green Terror 43-yard line and the Terror took over with 1:30 remaining and needing just a field goal to force overtime.

Five quick plays moved the ball to the Blue Jay 32-yard line before an incomplete pass made it second-and-10. Again, it was the Hopkins defense that came up back-to-back big plays as Cody sacked McDaniel quarterback Brad Baer (Westminster, MD/Westminster) on second down and Cook added another sack as time expired to seal the Blue Jays' fourth straight win over the Terror.

Maybank more than lived up to his advance billing as the Centennial Conference's leading rusher as he rushed 33 times for a career-high 230 yards. Baer, who missed about half the game after suffering an ankle injury in the first half, was 8-of-12 for 49 yards. Ron Ringgold (Aberdeen, MD/Aberdeen) led a Green Terror defense that held the Blue Jays to just 157 yards of total offense as he had 12 tackles on the day.

Adam Cook rushed 16 times for a team-high 87 yards and moved into second place on JHU's career rushing list as he now has 2,659 career rushing yards. Barrasso led the Blue Jay defense with a career-high 13 tackles, while Hagel, Whitacre and Campbell all posted 12 stops on the day. Whitacre added the fumble return for a touchdown, an interception and one sack in the victory.

Johns Hopkins will find out Sunday afternoon at 1:15 pm if its receives an at-large bid to the upcoming NCAA Playoffs. If the Blue Jays do not receive a bid, they are expected to receive a third straight bid to the ECAC Playoffs. McDaniel, with three losses on the year, seems an unlikely candidate for an at-large bid to the NCAAs, but is also a candidate for a bid to the ECAC Playoffs.

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