Nov. 1, 2008

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - The Johns Hopkins defense held visiting Juniata to just 171 yards of total offense in posting its second straight shutout and junior running back Andrew Kase (Wyomissing, PA/Wyomissing) rushed for 180 yards and one touchdown and set three school records to lead the Blue Jays to a 12-0 victory over visiting Juniata Saturday afternoon at Homewood Field. The win is the third straight for the Blue Jays, who improve to 6-2 overall and 4-2 in the Centennial Conference. The Eagles drop their fourth straight and slip to 1-8 overall and 1-6 in the Centennial.

This is the first time the Blue Jays have posted back-to-back shutouts since early in the 2003 season, when Hopkins actually posted three straight shutouts at one point. This is also the first time Johns Hopkins has ever posted back-to-back shutouts in Centennial Conference games.

The Blue Jays held a 228-65 advantage in total offense at the half, but three lost fumbles in the Juniata end of the field killed each of the scoring opportunities. Picking up where it left off in the first half, the Blue Jay defense forced a three-and-out on Juniata's first possession of the third quarter and the Hopkins offense put together its first scoring drive.

Taking over at its own 34, the Blue Jays effectively mixed the pass and the run to move 66 yards in eight plays to take the lead. Freshman Hewitt Tomlin (Jackson, TN/Trinity Christian) was 4-of-4 for 49 yards and sophomore Tucker Michels (Allendale, NJ/Northern Highlands) scored on a reverse from the six-yard line to polish off the drive. On the scoring play, Tomlin handed off to Kase, who swept to his left and had the entire defense flowing in that direction before flipping the ball to Michels, who had nothing but blockers in front of him and raced untouched into the end zone.

While the Eagles didn't seriously threaten for the remainder of the third quarter, the Blue Jays couldn't extend the lead until late in the fourth quarter, when Kase put the game away with a 46-yard touchdown run to polish off a quick, three-play, 57-yard drive after the Blue Jay defense had forced one of Juniata's eight punts in the game. Kase's 46-yard scoring run, his longest rush of the season, was his school-record 12th rushing touchdown of the season.

Juniata's best scoring chance of the game came late in the fourth quarter as the Eagles took over at their own 37-yard line after Kase's touchdown and quickly moved to the Blue Jay 10-yard line as quarterback Jay Leonard (Newville, PA/Big Spring) needed just three completions, which covered 17, 21 and 15 yards, to set the Eagles up with a first-and-goal opportunity with just over four minutes remaining. The Blue Jay defense stiffened and forced four straight incompletions and Hopkins picked up one first down on its ensuing possession to run out the clock.

In addition to breaking the school record for single-season rushing touchdowns, Kase also set school records for rushing yards in a season and career 100-yard rushing games. He now has 1,151 rushing yards this season to break the previous record of 1,047 by Adam Cook in 2003. Kase, who also now has two of the four 1,000-yard rushing seasons in school history, also broke the school record for career 100-yard rushing games as he now has 14. He had previously shared the record with Don Zajick (1994-97).

Tomlin was an efficient 20-of-30 for 253 yards with one interception. Michels had six receptions for 58 yards and the rushing touchdown, while freshman Sam Wernick (Dallas, TX/Dallas Jesuit) totaled five receptions for 95 yards. Junior Colin Wixted (Lafayette Hill, PA/St. Joe's Prep) led the Blue Jay defense with seven tackles and paced a unit that held the Eagles to just 46 yards rushing and 125 yards passing. Prior to their last drive of the game, the Eagles had just 118 yards of total offense.

Leonard was 15-of-35 for 125 yards and Chad Steiner (Frederick, MD/Frederick) totaled five receptions for 40 yards, but the real story for the Eagles was the play of freshman defensive back Jordan Baird (Sayre, PA/Athens Area), who tied an NCAA Division III record with four forced fumbles, all of which came in the first half and three of which came in the Eagles' end of the field. He stripped Kase of the ball inside the Juniata five-yard line to kill one drive early in the second quarter. The Blue Jays had moved from their own four-yard line to the Juniata six before Baird forced the fumble at the one-yard line after Kase had picked up five yards on first-and-goal.

Johns Hopkins hits the road for the final time this season next Saturday when the Blue Jays travel to Franklin & Marshall. Juniata ends its season next Saturday at home against Dickinson.

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