Oct. 17, 2009

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - Johns Hopkins junior Alex Lachman was wide left on a 35-yard field goal attempt with 27 seconds remaining and visiting Ursinus escaped from Homewood Field with a 16-14 victory over the Blue Jays in Centennial Conference action Saturday afternoon. Ursinus, which won despite totaling just nine yards of total offense in the second half, improves to 3-3 overall and 3-1 in the Centennial. The Blue Jays had their five-game winning streak snapped and fall to 5-2 overall and 4-1 in the league.

Ursinus held the two-point lead and had a chance to run out the clock after coming up with the ball on an interception with 5:14 remaining, but the Bears netted just six yards and punted the Blue Jays deep. Hopkins took over at its 20-yard line with 3:33 remaining and moved the ball inside Ursinus territory on a 38-yard pass from sophomore Hewitt Tomlin to junior Tucker Michels that gave the Blue Jays a first down at the UC 29. Three rushes by senior Andrew Kase netted nine yards and an Urinus penalty moved the ball to the 15.

After a Blue Jay timeout, Lachman calmly drilled a 35-yard attempt, but Ursinus had called timeout just before the snap, forcing another attempt. This time, he hooked it just wide and the Bears had secured their third straight win at Homewood Field.

In a game featuring 20 punts, it was a miscue early in the game by the Blue Jay punt unit that ultimately proved to be the deciding factor in the two-point loss as a bad snap on a punt attempt sailed over the head of JHU punter Max Islinger and he swatted the ball out of the back of the end zone for a safety to give the Bears a 2-0 lead midway through the first quarter.

Ursinus made the Blue Jays pay for another miscue later in the quarter as Joe Galie recovered a fumble at the Johns Hopkins 27 and senior Justin Decristofaro hit Nick Giarratano on a fade route in the corner of the end zone two plays later to account for a 9-0 UC lead at the end of the first quarter.

The cold rain at Homewood Field continued to affect play and ultimately led to an Al Desiderio fumble on a punt return that the Blue Jays recovered at their own 46. The Blue Jays needed just five plays to move into the red zone and Tomlin hit junior Dan Crowley with a 14-yard touchdown pass to make it 9-7 midway through the second quarter.

The Blue Jay defense, which allowed 100 yards of total offense in the first quarter, but just 33 the rest of the game, forced a quick Ursinus punt on its ensuing possession, but the Blue Jays fumbled the ball away on their their third play and Decristofaro hooked up with Travis Evans on a screen pass from the 10 yard line and Evans eased into the end zone to make it 16-7 late in the period.

The 16-7 lead held until late in the third quarter, when the Blue Jays went 46 yards in seven plays and sliced the nine-point deficit to two on a one-yard touchdown run by senior Kase.

Nearly the entire second half was played in Ursinus territory, but JHU managed just the Kase touchdown. Other than the touchdown and Lachman's misfire late in the game, JHU had one other golden opportunity to score, but an Eikeem Barron interception at the UC 22 killed that drive early in the fourth quarter.

Decristofaro was 9-of-26 for 93 yards with the two touchdowns and one interception and Teddy Conrad totaled a team-high 34 yards on the ground. Greg Martell led the Ursinus defense with a game-high 11 tackles.

Kase rushed for a game-high 122 yards and the one touchdown and tied the Johns Hopkins record for most overall career touchdowns. He is now tied with Bill Stromberg as JHU's career touchdown leader (39). Tomlin was 11-of-27 for 107 yards with the one touchdown and two interceptions.

The 133 yards the Bears managed were the fewest allowed by Johns Hopkins this season. Senior Glenn Rocca led Johns Hopkins with eight tackles, including 3.5 for losses and 2.5 sacks. He was one of six JHU players to get in on at least one sack as the Blue Jays totaled eight sacks for 50 yards in losses on the day. Sophomore Ryan Piatek counted 2.5 sacks among his six tackles in the game.

Johns Hopkins will return to action on Saturday, October 31 when the Blue Jays travel to Juniata. Ursinus will play at McDaniel next Saturday.