Sept. 3, 2005

Box Score

ROCHESTER, NY -- Junior place-kicker Ben Scott drilled a 37-yard field goal with one second remaining in the fourth quarter to lift the Johns Hopkins football team to a 9-7 victory over Rochester in the season-opener for both teams Saturday afternoon. The win is the 12th straight in the month of September and sixth straight on the road for the Blue Jays, who also beat the Yellowjackets for the fifth straight year.

Rochester took a 7-6 lead with just 1:19 remaining when senior quarterback Aaron Molisani hit Dave Ferris with a 23-yard touchdown pass to cap an eight-play, 70-yard drive for the 'Jackets only score of the day. However, the Blue Jays returned the ensuing kickoff to their own 39-yard line and senior quarterback Zach DiIonno orchestrated a quick, seven-play, 41-yard drive that took the Blue Jays to the Rochester 20. After both teams called timeout, Scott calmly nailed the 37-yarder, which provided the difference and was also his school-record-tying third field goal of the game.

The Blue Jays had several chances to take control of the game, but managed just a pair of Scott field goals in the first half to carry a 6-0 lead into intermission. After a scoreless opening 25 minutes, Scott polished off an 11-play drive with a career-long 45-yard field goal to give the Blue Jays a 3-0 lead with just over five minutes remaining in the second quarter. He added a 38-yarder with 53 seconds remaining in the period to account for the only scoring that didn't take place in the final 80 seconds of the game.

Two other golden scoring opporunities, one for each team, were snuffed out in the first half. DiIonno hit junior Anthony Triplin for a 24-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter, but the play was called back on a penalty. Rochester answered Scott's second field goal with a drive to the Blue Jay six-yard line in the final seconds of the first half, but junior Matt Hagel blocked a 23-yard field goal attempt to close the second quarter.

The bend-but-don't-break defenses stayed strong in the second half, but both teams had chances. Scott misfired from 28 yards and a Rochester interception return for a touchdown was wiped out by a holding call. Until the final Rochester drive the Yellowjackets had managed just 128 yards of total offense against a Blue Jay defense that held the opposition to 14 points or less for the 17th time in the last 23 games.

DiIonno was 20-of-33 for 235 yards, while Triplin had a game-high nine receptions for 79 yards. Sophomore Corey Sattler made the first start of his career and added five receptions for 73 yards. Brian Cook led the Blue Jay defense with nine tackles, including two for losses and one sack. Hagel added eight tackles and the blocked field goal.

Molisani was 14-of-30 for 127 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Jeff Leslie led the UR defense with a game-high 11 tackles.

Scott's three field goals mark the fourth time in school history a JHU player has hit three in one game. The three field goals also push his career total to 20, good for second place on JHU's career field goal list. For good measure he also set a school-record with a 75-yard punt in the fourth quarter.