Sept. 24, 2008

Johns Hopkins-Moravian Football Notes in PDF Format Additional Information Available in This Format

The Game: Johns Hopkins (3-0, 1-0 CC) hits the road for the third of three straight road games as the Blue Jays travel to Moravian (3-0, 1-0 CC). Johns Hopkins and Moravian are the only two teams in the league that are 3-0.

A Look Back: Johns Hopkins erupted for a season-high 49 points and 497 yards of total offense in knocking off host Gettysburg, 49-37, last Saturday. Moravian kept its perfect season alive as the Greyhounds slipped past a pesky Lebanon Valley team, 23-16.

The Coaches: Johns Hopkins is coached by Jim Margraff `82, who is in his 19th season as the head coach at Homewood. Margraff is JHU's all-time leader in games won (114) and coached (186) and he enters this week's game with a career record of 114-69-3 (.621). More information about Jim Margraff can be found on the second page of this week's game notes.
Scott Dapp is the all-time winningest football coach in Moravian history as he carries a 130-88-1 record into this week's game against Johns Hopkins. He has guided the Greyhounds to an impressive 9-4 overall mark since joining the Centennial Conference last season and Moravian has posted a winning record 16 times in his 21 seasons at the helm.

Captain, My Captain: In a vote of his teammates, junior running back Andrew Kase was selected to serve as the team captain for the Blue Jays this season. According to records in the Johns Hopkins Sports Information Office, he is the first player to serve as a solo captain for the Blue Jay football team since 1983 (Francis Mullan).

On This Date: Johns Hopkins has played seven previous games on September 27 and sports a 4-2-1 record in those seven games. The Blue Jays have won three of their last four games played on this date and have averaged 25.6 points per game in the seven games played all-time on September 27.

Road Warriors: Last week's win at Gettysburg was JHU's fifth straight win away from Homewood Field and improved the Blue Jays' record to 6-1 in road games since the start of the 2007 season. JHU's only loss on the road since the start of last season was a tough 28-21 setback at eventual league champion Muhlenberg last September. JHU is 28-10 on the road since the start of the 2001 season and 16-6 in away league games since the start of the `01 season.

That's a Blue Jay First Down: In rolling up 497 yards of total offense against Gettysburg the Blue Jays also set a school record for first downs in a game. JHU's 31 first downs against the Bullets topped the previous record of 30 set against then third-ranked Bridgetwater in 2001.

September Reign: Johns Hopkins is 24-9 in the month of Septmeber since the start of the 2000 season and 35-14 since the start of the 1995 season.

Streaking: Since the start of the 2002 season the Blue Jays sport a 48-19 (.716) record. Taking it back farther the Blue Jays are 54-22 (.711) since the start of the 2001 season and 59-27 (.686) since the begininng of the 2000 season. The 59 wins the Blue Jays have amassed this decade are already the most wins in a decade in school history. The previous record of 55 wins came in the 1990s.

Working Overtime: The 39-31 triple overtime win at Randolph-Macon was JHU's first overtime game since a 21-14 win at Washington & Lee in the 2002 season-opener (one overtime period). The Blue Jays are now 2-2 all-time in overtime and all four extra-session games the Blue Jays have played in their history have been on the road.

Centennial Openers: Last week's 49-37 win over Gettysburg gave Johns Hopkins an all-time record of 16-10 (.615) in Centennial lid-lifters. Johns Hopkins has been one of the most successul teams in the Centennial Conference in league openers as the Blue Jays have won 15 of their last 18 Centennial openers and are 15-4 under head coach Jim Margraff in CC openers. Only Franklin & Marshall, which fashions a 17-9 all-time record in Centennial-openers, sports a better record than Johns Hopkins.

In the Zone: Johns Hopkins was by far the most effective offensive team in the Centennial Conference in the red zone during the 2007 season. The Blue Jays finished the year 25-of-27 (92.6%) on the year with 17 touchdowns and eight field goals to their credit. The Blue Jays are 10-of-11 on trips to the red zone through three games and are now 35-of-38 (.921) since the start of the 2007 season.

34+ - Part I: Johns Hopkins has scored 34 or more points in three straight games for the first time since early in the 2000 season, when the Blue Jays turned the trick against Swarthmore (35), Kings Point (42) and Gettysburg (54). The last time JHU scored 34 or more points in four straight games was 1968.

34+ - Part II: Johns Hopkins has scored 34 or more points in each of its first three games this season. This is the first time since 1915 that Hopkins has scored 34 or more points in the first three games of a season.

Early Surge: The 122 points Johns Hopkins has scored are the most in the first three games of a season since 1915, when JHU scored 152 points in its first three games.

Seven's Heaven: Since the beginning of the 2003 season the Blue Jays are 39-12 when scoring more than seven points and 0-5 when they have been held to seven points or less.

Defense Means Offense: Johns Hopkins has scored four defensive touchdowns in three games this season as senior Chris Baldwin has taken back two interceptions and one fumble for a score (all against St. Lawrence) and freshman Tyler Brown returned a fumble 22 yards for a score at Randolph-Macon.
While all seven of the Blue Jays' touchdowns against Gettysburg were scored by the offense, two of them came after turnovers as JHU turned an interception and a fumble recovery into touchdowns.

Statistical Youth: Johns Hopkins ran the ball 55 times and had 19 receptions in last week's win at Gettysburg. All 74 offensive touches were by non-seniors.

Another Statistical Youth: Through three games the Blue Jays have rushed the ball 130 times and have 44 receptions. Of the 174 offensive touches, exactly one (a three-yard reception) has been by a senior.

Lachman Earns Preseason Honors: Johns Hopkins sophomore place kicker Alex Lachman was named a Second Team Preseason All-American by Lindy's after establishing himself as one of the top young kickers in the nation a year ago.
In addition to earning First Team All-Centennial last season, Lachman garnered Third Team All-America honors from d3football.com.
Lachman hit 34-of-35 kicks last season as he was good on all 23 of his extra-point attempts and nailed 11-of-12 field goal attempts. His 91.7% accuracy rate on field goals tied for the national lead among players with 10 or more attempts.

It's All Academic: Johns Hopkins has earned 26 CoSIDA Academic All-District selections since 2003. JHU's 26 selections in that time are more than the other CC football-playing schools combined (22). Taking it back even farther, Johns Hopkins has earned 52 CoSIDA Academic All-District selections since 1991. During that time the other CC football-playing schools have combined for exactly 52 selections as well.
Johns Hopkins has had at least three players earn CoSIDA Academic All-District honors every year since 2001.

Additional information, including player notes of interest, included in PDF Version