Oct. 1, 2005

Box Score

CARLISLE, PA - The Johns Hopkins defense scored two touchdowns in a game for the first time since the 2000 season and set up two more scores as the 24th-ranked Blue Jays rolled past host Dickinson, 35-14 in Centennial Conference football action at Biddle Field Saturday afternoon. The win is the eighth straight overall and the school-record eighth straight on the road for Hopkins (4-0, 1-0 Centennial), while Dickinson dropped its third straight and falls to 1-3, 0-1.

After the Red Devils drove 57 yards in seven plays and opened the scoring on a 22-yard run by Dwight Phyall less than four minutes into the game the Blue Jays struck for 35 unanswered points to put the game away by the end of the third quarter.

The team's traded possessions after Phyall's touchdown, but a poor snap on a Dickinson punt attempt gave the Blue Jays the ball at the Red Devil 17-yard line. On the Blue Jays' first play senior T.J. Lyons darted through traffic into the end zone to tie the game at 7-7. The tie wouldn't last long as the Blue Jay defense needed just three plays to give Hopkins the lead for good.

On third-and-four from their own 33-yard line the Red Devils ran an option to the left Running back Michael D'Amico was hit by cornerback Adam Colicchio just as he took the pitch and fumbled into the air, where senior Adam Luke caught the ball in stride and raced 31 yards for a touchdown. The fumble return for a touchdown is the second of Luke's career and gave the Blue Jays a 14-7 lead with just over three minutes remaining in the first quarter.

Neither team scored in the second quarter, but the Blue Jays struck for three touchdowns in a span of less than three minutes midway through the third quarter to take control.

Senior Max Whitacre started the surge as he intercepted a Matt Torchia pass at the Blue Jay 40-yard line and returned it to the Dickinson 32. Senior quarterback Zach DiIonno connected with sophomore Corey Sattler on a 34-yard pass on second-and-13 from the 35 and Lyons capped the short drive with a one-yard run on the next play to make it 21-7.

Less than two minutes later the Blue Jays capitalized on a Phyall fumble at the Red Devil 20-yard line to push the lead to 28-7. Junior Brian Nickel recovered Phyall's fumble and sophomore Phil Roberts capped a quick, four-play, 20-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run to give the Blue Jays the three touchdown advantage. On the second play of Dickinson's ensuing possession Colicchio stepped in front of a Torchia pass and raced 33-yards with the interception for a touchdown to close out the Blue Jay scoring.

A nine-yard touchdown pass from Grant Hastings to Scott Dominick with 10:09 remaining closed the scoring in Hopkins' second straight win at Dickinson. Prior to the current two-game winning streak at Biddle Field the Blue Jays hadn't won at Dickinson since 1985. In the last two meetings here the Blue Jays have outscored the Red Devils, 65-14 and the 35 points Hopkins scored today is the most for the Blue Jays against Dickinson since 1983, when they beat the Devils, 35-22.

The Blue Jay defense came up with four interceptions, two fumble recoveries, two sacks and scored the two touchdowns. This is the first time Hopkins has forced six or more turnovers in a game since November 16, 2002, when the Blue Jays forced seven in a 27-7 win over McDaniel. The last time Hopkins got two touchdowns from its defense was on September 29, 2000 in a 54-13 win over Gettysburg.

Colicchio posted eight tackles, had two interceptions, including the one he returned for a touchdown, and forced the fumble that Luke returned for a touchdown to lead the way defensively for the Blue Jays. Senior Mike Barrasso was in on a career-high 14 tackles and junior Matt Hagel added eight as the Blue Jays held Dickinson to just 233 yards in the game and just 176 after its opening drive.

Lyons rushed for a game-high 80 yards and the two touchdowns on 14 carries, while DiIonno was 15-of-27 for 210 yards. Junior Anthony Triplin had a game-high six receptions for 37 yards and Sattler added three receptions for a career-high 94 yards.

Phyall rushed for 70 yards and the one touchdown on 20 carries, but 22 other rushing attempts by the Devils netted just 45 yards. Torchia was 12-of-25 for 78 yards and threw all four interceptions.

The eight straight overall wins for the Blue Jays rank as the second-longest winning streak in school history, while the eight straight wins on the road surpass the previous school record of seven straight road wins set from 1967-69.

Johns Hopkins will return to action next Saturday when the Blue Jays host Franklin & Marshall at Homewood Field (1:00 pm). The Diplomats knocked off Muhlenberg, 15-9 earlier today to improve to 2-2, 1-0 CC.