Sept. 20, 2008

Box Score

GETTYSBURG, PA - It was Homecoming at Gettysburg on Saturday and the Johns Hopkins offense put on a show for the alumni as junior running back Andrew Kase (Wyomissing, PA/Wyomissing) rushed for 173 yards and tied a school record with four rushing touchdowns and freshman Hewitt Tomlin (Jackson, TN/Trinity Christian) threw for 260 yards and two more scores as the Blue Jays knocked off the Bullets, 49-37, in the Centennial Conference opener for both teams. The win improves Hopkins' record to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in the Centennial, while Gettysburg falls to 0-3 overall and 0-1 in the league. The win is the fourth straight for the Blue Jays dating back to last season.

Hopkins led 28-24 at the half and took control with back-to-back touchdowns in the third quarter. A Chris Baldwin (Southampton, NJ/Bishop Eustace) interception on Gettysburg's first drive of the second half set the Blue Jays up at the Gettysburg 45. Eight plays and a pair of third-down conversions later Kase went in from a yard out to extend the lead to 35-24. It was that touchdown that tied the JHU single-game school record for rushing touchdowns.

After forcing the Bullets to punt for the first time on their next possession, Tomlin directed a nifty 10-play, 59-yard drive that he capped with a 16-yard touchdown pass to junior David Rokeach (Colonie, Ny/Christian Brothers Academy) on a third-and-11 play. The Blue Jays converted three third-down opportunities on the drive, including a 12-yard run by Kase on a third-and-six near midfield. Rokeach's touchdown gave the Blue Jays what appeared was a comfortable 42-24 lead entering the final quarter.

The Bullets had other ideas and sliced the 18-point deficit to five with a pair of touchdowns in the first 7:16 of the fourth quarter. A 12-yard touchdown pass from Matt Flynn (Northfield, NJ/Mainland) to Mike McInerney (Hasbrouch Heights, NJ/St. Joseph) made it 42-31 with 12:35 to play and a one-yard run by Jamel Mutunga (Bel Air, MD/Bel Air) just under five minutes later made it 42-37. Flynn's pass on the two-point attempt after Mutunga's touchdown sailed out of the back of the end zone.

Needing a time-consuming drive to put the game away, the Blue Jays instead went for the knockout punch and needed just five plays to go 60 yards in 2:15 to seal their sixth win in their last seven road games. Tomlin hit sophomore Dan Crowley (Glen Rock, NJ/Glen Rock) on a 45-yard pass on the second play of the drive and hit Tucker Michels (Allendale, NJ/Northern Highlands) from 12 yards out three plays later to make it 49-37.

The frenetic pace started right away as the Blue Jays led 7-0 after Kase's two-yard touchdown run capped an 11-play, 75-yard drive late in the first quarter. That lead lasted for less than three minutes as the high-octane Bullet offense got untracked and needed just 1:53 to answer. Charles Curcio (Hammonton, NJ/St. Joseph) caught the first of his two touchdowns in a span of 26 seconds - a 48-yard screen pass from Flynn - to pull the Bullets even and added a 22-yard scoring reception two plays later after Gettysburg recovered a fumble on the kickoff after his first touchdown.

The Blue Jays scored three of the next four touchdowns to take a 28-21 lead with just over six minutes remaining in the first half. Kase, who ended the first half with 116 yards and three touchdowns, sandwiched scoring runs of five and two yards around a 60-yard touchdown pass from Flynn to Brian Betley (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) to make it 21-21 with 7:17 remaining before halftime.

Kase's second touchdown, which came on a sprint to the corner of the end zone on fourth-and-goal, capped an 11-play, 69-yard drive to knot the game.

A great open-field tackle by freshman A.J. Safi (Allentown, PA/Salisbury) on the ensuing kickoff forced a fumble that the Blue Jays came up with at the Gettysburg 26-yard line. Three plays later head coach Jim Margraff pulled out a trick play as Tomlin fired a lateral to Crowley, who in turn through all the way back across the field to a wide open Nick Fazio (McMurray, PA/Peters Township) inside the five yard line and Fazio easily scored the touchdown that gave the Blue Jays the lead for good at 28-21.

A Josh Huson (McLean, VA/McLean) 25-yard field goal with 1:12 remaining in the first half cut the deficit to 28-24 and Gettysburg had the first possession of the second half, but Baldwin's interception ignited the two-touchdown surge for the Blue Jays, who improve to 3-0 for the fifth time in seven years with the win.

Kase is the first Johns Hopkins running back to rush for four touchdowns in a game since 1990 and his 173-yard effort is the second-best of his career. He is just the fourth player to rush for four touchdowns in a game at Johns Hopkins and he jumped to 13th on JHU's career rushing list as he now has 1,653 yards in his career. Tomlin's 260 yards passing are the most by a Johns Hopkins freshman since Margraff threw for 269 against then Western Maryland in 1978. His 260 yards are the third-most ever by a Johns Hopkins freshman.

Michels had seven receptions for 96 yards and the one score, while sophomore D.J. Hartigan (Wyckoff, NJ/Ramapo) added five receptions for 53 yards. Crowley threw the one touchdown and added three receptions for 67 yards as the Blue Jays rolled up 286 yards through the air and 211 on the ground.

Flynn was 26-of-39 for a career-high 337 yards with the four touchdown passes and Mutunga added a career-high 119 yards rushing and the one touchdown to fuel a Gettysburg offense that rolled up 509 yards of total offense.

The 49-point effort is the third-highest for the Blue Jays in the 36-game series with Gettysburg and marks the third straight game JHU has scored 34 or more points. This is the first time Johns Hopkins has scored 34 or more points in three straight games since early in the 2000 season.

Johns Hopkins will return to action next Saturday when the Blue Jays play at Moravian. The Greyhounds improve to 3-0 on the year with a 23-16 win at Lebanon Valley earlier today.

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