Nov. 19, 2005

Box Score

GREENVILLE, PA - Senior wide receiver Brandon Chambers had 10 receptions for 208 yards and three touchdowns and the Thiel defense limited visiting Johns Hopkins to just 142 yards of total offense as the Tomcats knocked the Blue Jays out of the NCAA Division III Playoffs with a 28-3 victory at Alumni Stadium Saturday afternoon. Thiel improves to 11-0 and will play Bridgewater in the second round next Saturday, while the Blue Jays finish the season at 8-3.

Hopkins got off to a good start as the Blue Jay defense forced a quick punt and the offense put together what would be its best drive of the game on the ensuing possession. Behind the solid running of senior T.J. Lyons the Blue Jays moved 51 yards in 13 plays and ate nearly six minutes off the clock before settling for a 22-yard field goal by junior Ben Scott to take a 3-0 lead. Unfortunately for the Blue Jays, the lead didn's last long.

Chambers got going on Thiel's next possession as he took a short swing pass from senior Darrell Satterfield in the flat and raced 53 yards for a touchdown to give the Tomcats a 7-3 lead. Chambers' reception came on a third-and-seven play and the Blue Jays appeared to have the angle on him, but he outraced two defenders in open space and raced down the sideline for his first score of the game.

"We moved the ball well on our first drive, but we were disappointed to only come away with three points," Johns Hopkins head coach Jim Margraff noted in the post-game press conferene. "We knew he (Chambers) was going to make some plays and he made them early."

The 7-3 lead held until early in the second quarter, when Satterfield hooked up with Chambers again from long range. After forcing a Blue Jay punt the Tomcats took over at their own 43-yard line and needed just one play and 11 seconds to extend the lead to 14-3 as Chambers out-jumped sophomore cornerback Dan Requena along the sideline and raced 57 yards for his second score of the game. Requena was in perfect position, but Chambers did a great job while in the air and raced untouched into the end zone.

Chambers capped Thiel's next drive with his third long score of the game as he beat the Blue Jays on a post pattern and took in Satterfield's pass at the goal line just before the safety could get there to push the lead to 21-3. A four-yard Dan Hess touchdown run capped an eight-play, 73-yard drive midway through the third quarter to account for the Tomcats' final score and JHU never seriously threatened down the stretch.

Satterfield was 19-of-30 for 320 yards and three touchdowns with Chambers doing most of his damage in the first half. Hess rushed for a game-high 147 yards and the one score to help Thiel roll up nearly 33 minutes of possession time.

Hopkins got 45 yards on 12 carries from Lyons and 11 receptions from junior Anthony Triplin (for 52 yards), but Thiel limited the Blue Jays to just 91 yards of total offense after the first possession of the game. Senior Zach DiIonno was 20-of-36, but he was sacked three times, hurried on numerous other plays and was intercepted four times.

Scott's field goal to open the scoring was the 30th of his career, which moves him into sole possession of first place on JHU's career field goal list. Triplin's 11 receptions give him 77 for the season, one shy of the JHU single-season record, while Lyons became just the fourth running back in school history to amass 2,500 career rushing yards as his 45 push his career total to 2,525.

Despite the loss, Margraff remained upbeat and focused on the positives after the game. "We knew coming in that Thiel had a great team and we felt good about the start we got. But they are a tough team to defend, especially for as long as we had to defend them. Our goals this season included winning the Centennial Conference Championship and making it to the NCAA Playoffs. We reached both of those goals and we just hope that next time we are here we can go one step farther."

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