Oct. 29, 2005

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - Visiting Ursinus scored a touchdown in the final seconds of the first half and on the opening play of the fourth quarter as the Bears rallied from a 17-7 second-quarter deficit and held off 16th-ranked Johns Hopkins, 21-17 at Homewood Field Saturday afternoon. The win is the second straight for Ursinus, which evens its overall record at 4-4 and its league record at 2-2. The Blue Jays had their 11-game winning streak come to an end as they slip to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in the Centennial Conference.

The Blue Jays seemed to be in control after senior T.J. Lyons (Paramus, NJ/Paramus) capped a six-play, 44-yard drive with a 19-yard touchdown run with 6:42 remaining in the second quarter to take the 17-7 lead. However, after the teams traded possessions Ursinus took over at its own 41-yard line with 2:29 remaining in the half and took back the momentum heading into halftime with an efficient, nine-play, 59-yard drive that senior quarterback Vince Gallagher (Springfield, PA/St. Joseph's Prep) capped with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Justin Zielger (Souderton, PA/Souderton) with just six seconds remaining in the half. Gallagher was 6-of-7 for 51 yards on the drive and rushed for the other eight yards on a second-and-14 play that he followed with a nine-yard completion to Brandon Evans (Mohnton, PA/Governor Mifflin) to keep the drive alive.

Johns Hopkins had possession in Ursinus territory twice in the third quarter, but couldn't cash in and Gallagher made the Blue Jays pay as he needed just five plays to move the Bears 90 yards to take the lead. His 32-yard touchdown pass to junior Josh Hannum (Brookhaven, PA/Strath Haven) just seven seconds into the fourth quarter came under heavy pressure and gave the Bears what proved to be the lead for good at 21-17. Gallagher opened the drive with a 40-yard pass down the sideline to Evans and hit Hannum just four plays later.

The Blue Jays had several chances to take the lead in the final quarter, but three possessions ended with a pair of punts and an Ursinus interception by Brian Hrynczyszyn (Bensalem, PA/Conwell-Egan) on what proved to be JHU's final threat. The Blue Jays had forced an Ursinus punt with 2:45 remaining and moved from their own 23-yard line to the Ursinus 38, but Hrynczyszyn picked off Zach DiIonno's (West Caldwell, NJ/James Caldwell) pass over the middle and the Bears were able to effectively run out the clock to snap a four-game losing streak to the Blue Jays.

With an outright Centennial Conference Championship and a bid to the upcoming NCAA Playoffs on the line, the Blue Jays came out and took control early as Ben Scott (Pittsburgh, PA/Shady Side Academy) polished off an impressive nine-play, 60-yard drive to open the game with a 32-yard field goal to give the Blue Jays a 3-0 lead. The field goal was the 29th of Scott's career, which ties him for the all-time school record.

Ursinus answered early in the second quarter as Mike Weyrauch (Mountaintop, PA/Crestwood) hauled in a 17-yard pass from Gallagher to cap a six-play, 46-yard drive that gave the Bears what proved to be a short-lived 7-3 lead.

Johns Hopkins junior Evan Earnest (Lancaster, PA/Hempfield) returned the ensuing kickoff 47 yards to the Ursinus 32-yard line and DiIonno hit Anthony Triplin (Baltimore, MD/Gilman) down the sideline with a perfect pass at the goal line to give the Blue Jays a 10-7 lead. The Blue Jays pushed the lead to 17-7 midway through the second quarter as they turned a fumble recovery at the Ursinus 44 into the six-play drive that Lyons finished off with his 19-yard run. Ursinus pulled with within three on Gallagher's touchdown pass to Ziegler just over six minutes later and held the Blue Jays out of the end zone in the second half to tighten the race for the Centennial Conference title.

Gallagher was 22-of-35 for 274 yards and three touchdowns and did a great job spreading the ball around as nine different players had at least one reception and seven had two or more. Ziegler had a team-high seven receptions for 57 yards and the one touchdown, while Hrynczyszyn added 12 tackles, including one for a loss, and a pass breakup to his game-clinching interception.

Lyons rushed for a game-high 136 yards and the one touchdown to lead the way for the Blue Jays offensively. DiIonno was 20-of-35 for 170 yards with the one touchdown and one interception, while Triplin had seven receptions for 69 yards and the one score. Junior Matt Hagel (Linwood, NJ/Mainland) had a team-high eight tackles and senior Adam Luke (Teague, TX/Teague) added seven. Lyons' 136 yards improve his career total to 2,289 and move him into fourth-place on JHU's career rushing list.

Johns Hopkins steps out of conference play next week as the Blue Jays travel to Hampden-Sydney, while Ursinus hosts Franklin & Marshall.