Oct. 6, 2007

Box Score

CARLISLE, PA - Johns Hopkins freshman Alex Lachman kicked a 40-yard field goal as time expired to lift the visiting Blue Jays to 20-17 victory over Centennial-leading Dickinson at Biddle Field Saturday afternoon. The win snaps a four-game losing streak for the Blue Jays, who improve to 2-4 overall and 1-3 in the Centennial Conference. The Red Devils suffered their first loss of the season and fall to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the league.

The game-winning kick, the first on the final play of a game for Johns Hopkins since Ben Scott beat Carnegie Mellon early in the 2005 season, came just 55 seconds after Lachman missed his first field goal of the season - from 43 yards out. The Red Devils took over after Lachman's miss and appeared to be heading for a potential game-winning kick of their own when sophomore Ian Mithcell scampered from his own 32 yard line into Blue Jay territory, but freshman A.J. Albert forced and recovered a fumble at the Hopkins 47-yard line to give the Blue Jays one more chance.

A Mike Murray pass for eight yards to Sean Hennessey and an eight-yard scramble by Murray gave the Blue Jays possession at the Dickinson 37 with 13 seconds remaining. Murray then hit senior Corey Sattler for 14 yards to the Red Devi l 23-yard line and Lachman calmly drilled the game-winner as time expired to give Hopkins its third straight win at Dickinson.

A game-winning field goal didn't look like it would be necessary at halftime as the Blue Jays scored on three straight possessions to turn an early 7-0 deficit into a 17-7 lead at intermission.

After Mitchell capped a nifty six-play, 67-yard drive with a 20-yard touchdown run just over three minutes into the game, the Blue Jays scored 17 straight points to take the 10-point halftime lead.

Hopkins drew even when Murray hit Hennessey with a 41-yard touchdown pass with 57 seconds remaining in the second quarter and he capped JHU's second scoring drive midway through the second quarter with a six-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Andrew Kase. Both scoring drives took seven plays and covered more than 60 yards.

Dickinson moved into position to cut the 14-7 deficit after Kase's touchdown as Mitchell moved the Red Devils from their own 29 to the Blue Jay 25, but freshman Gordon Craig missed a 42-yard field goal and Hopkins took over with 5:21 remaining in the first half.

Murray and the Blue Jays then orchestrated a methodical 13-play, 57-yard drive that ate all but the final seven seconds off the first half. Only one of the 13 plays went for more than nine yards - a 10-yard pass from Murray to junior Chris Baldwin - and Lachman nailed a 36-yard field goal to make it 17-7 at the half.

Hopkins took the opening possession of the second half and moved into Dickinson territory, but A.J. Reisig intercepted Murray at the Dickinson 29 and the Devils wasted little time making the Blue Jays pay. Mitchell directed a 12-play, 69-yard drive that saw Dickinson convert on a pair of third-and-long situations and Tim Wells took a belly-option right up the middle from nine yards out to pull the Devils to within 17-14 midway through the third quarter.

Hopkins held the three-point lead until early in the fourth quarter, when Craig capped the odd four-play for minus three-yard drive with a career-best 44-yard field goal. The Devils had one more possession in JHU territory late in the game, but punted from the Hopkins 37 with just under two minutes remaining.

Kase then took over as he rushed for 22 yards and had one reception for 25 yards to give the Blue Jays a chance to win it with just under a minute to play. His 25-yard reception came on a third-and eight from the Hopkins 34 and most of the yards were after the catch as he appeared to be nearly down short of the first down, but spun away and kept his balance before being knocked out of bounds at the Dickinson 41. Lachman came on seven plays later to try and win it, but his low line drive missed just left. That set the stage for Albert's big play on defense and Lachman's game-winner.

Kase chalked up his third straight 100-yard rushing game as he picked up 103 yards on 24 carries and added five receptions for 32 yards and the one score. He is the first Hopkins running back to top the 100-yard mark in three straight games since Adam Cook turned the trick early in the 2003 season.

Murray was 20-of-34 for 223 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He is the first Hopkins quarterback to throw for over 200 yards in three straight games since Rob Heleniak turned the trick in four straight outings during the 2001 season. Sattler added a team-high four receptions for 64 yards and Albert posted a career-high 11 tackles, two fumble recoveries and the one forced fumble.

Mitchell lived up to his advance billing as one of the top multi-dimensional quarterbacks in the league as he rushed 15 times for 137 yards and one touchdown and was 12-of-23 for 136 yards through the air. Chris McInerney had a game-high five receptions for 65 yards and totaled 148 all-purpose yards in the loss. Eric Dube led the Dickinson defense with 12 tackles and a pair of pass breakups.

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