Sept. 25, 2012
Johns Hopkins-Juniata Football Notes 
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The Game: Johns Hopkins (4-0, 3-0 Centennial) returns home for the final game before its bye week as the Blue Jays welcome Juniata (1-3, 0-3 CC) to Homewood Field.
On This Date: The Blue Jays gave Jim Margraff his first Centennial Conference victory with a 28-14 win over Gettysburg on this date in 1990. The win snapped a 14-game winless streak for JHU against the Bullets and was Hopkins' first win over Gettysburg since 1915.
The Teams: Johns Hopkins improved to 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the Centennial Conference with a 33-21 win at Muhlenberg last Saturday. Juniata slipped to 1-3 on the year as the Eagles dropped a 45-38 shootout at home against Franklin & Marshall.
Series History: Johns Hopkins has won five of the six all-time series meetings, including all five since Juniata joined the Centennial Conference in 2007. A complete series history can be found on page 2.
Poll Position: Johns Hopkins is ranked 15th in this week's AFCA Division III Coaches Poll and 19th in the d3football.com Poll. Johns Hopkins has been ranked in the top 25 of the AFCA Poll for 12 consecutive weeks dating back to the first poll of the 2011 season The Johns Hopkins office of Athletic Communications uses the AFCA Poll to reflect JHU's official ranking at the time of a game.
Margraff Earns Career Win Number 150: Johns Hopkins head coach Jim Margraff improved his career record to 151-79-3 (.655) with last week's 33-21 win at Muhlenberg. He is just the second college football coach in Maryland state history to win 150 career games. Only Morgan State's Eddie Hurt, who won 174 games from 1929-59, has won more games as the head football coach at a college or university in the state of Maryland than Margraff.
About the 4-0 Start: The Blue Jays improved to 4-0 with last week's 33-21 win at Muhlenberg. This marks the fifth time since 2002 that Johns Hopkins has won its first four games of a season and the eighth time in school history that JHU stands at 4-0.
Sweet September: Johns Hopkins enters this week's game against Juniata having won 10 straight and 13 of its last 14 games in the month of September. The only team to beat JHU in the month of September in its last 14 games? Randolph-Macon, which posted a 41-37 win over JHU on September 11, 2010.
Regular Season Roll: The Blue Jays will put an 18-game regular-season winning streak on the line this week against Juniata. The streak, the longest such run in school history and the third-longest in Centennial Conference history, began with a 49-24 win at Susquehanna on October 23, 2010. The Blue Jays have outscored the opposition 733-220 during the 18-game run.
Centennial Roll: The Blue Jays will put a 16-game Centennial Conference winning streak on the line this week against Juniata. The streak, the longest such run in school history and tied for the second-longest in Centennial Conference history, began with a 49-24 win at Susquehanna on October 23, 2010.
Road Warriors: Johns Hopkins ran its road winning streak to nine games with last week's 33-21 win at Muhlenberg. The nine-game run ties the JHU record for most consecutive road victories (2003-05).
The Blue Jays last dropped a road game on October 16, 2010, when Ursinus took a 26-17 decision. The nine-game streak is the fourth-longest active road winning streak in the nation.
Best-Ever 20-Game Run: Dating back to late in the 2010 season, Johns Hopkins is 19-1 in its last 20 games. This is the best 20-game run in school history. JHU had posted an 18-2 record over a 20-game span on four different occassions.
Quick Starts: The Blue Jays have outscored the opposition 82-14 in the first and second quarters combined through four games with a 35-7 mark in the first quarter and a 47-7 bulge in the second. The Johns Hopkins defense has actually allowed just one touchdown in the first half this season as the Moravian defense returned an interception for a touchdown to account for one of the two TDs JHU has surrendered in the first half through four games.
Move Those Chains: Johns Hopkins converted 11-of-18 third-down chances in the win at Muhlenberg and the Blue Jays are now 36-of-57 (.632) through four games. JHU currently leads the nation in third-down efficiency and is one of just two Division III teams that has converted better than 60% of its third-down opportunities. Taking it one step farther, of the 651 schools in the NCAA that play football at the FBS, FCS, Division II and Division III levels, Johns Hopkins currently ranks first in third-down efficiency.
That's a Record: Johns Hopkins tied an NCAA Division III record and set school and Centennial Conference records with 40 first downs in the recent win over Moravian. This is the third time in Division III history that a team has accumulated 40 first downs in a game.
That's a First: Johns Hopkins scored 33 points in last week's win at Muhlenberg and has scored at least 33 in each of its four games thus far. This is the first time in school history that JHU has scored 33 or more points in each of its first four games of a season.
Johns Hopkins has never scored 33 or more points in five straight games in the same season and the Blue Jays rank second in the Centennial Conference and 29th in the nation in scoring offense (38.0).
On Par: Johns Hopkins averaged a school-record 492.7 yards per game last season and is just slightly off that pace through four games this season.
Including last week's 480-yard effort at Muhlenberg, the Blue Jays currently rank second in the Centennial Conference and 17th nationally in total offense (490.2). JHU has twice topped the 500-yard mark in four games and only once, at Susquehanna (389), have the Blue Jays been held under 400 yards.>br> Johns Hopkins is currently averaging 278.2 rushing yards and 212.0 passing yards per game.
It's Been a While: JHU rushed for 338 yards and passed for 244 in the recent win vs. Moravian. This marked just the third time in school history that JHU has totaled more than 300 yards rushing and 200 yards passing in the same game. The two previous instances took place more than 40 years ago.
Two Jays 2K: Having a running back reach 2,000 career rushing yards or a receiver top 2,000 career receiving yards is quite an accomplishment. To have them both turn the trick in the same game is as rare as it is impressive, but that's what happened for the Blue Jays in last week's win at Muhlenberg.
Senior running back Jonathan Rigaud rushed for 131 yards and one touchdown and pushed his career rushing total to 2,003 yards. He is the eighth running back in school history to reach the 2,000-yard mark and his 56-yard TD run on JHU's fifth play of the game was the 22nd of his career, which ties him for fifth place in school history.
Not to be outdone, junior Dan Wodicka had six receptions for 42 yards against the Mules and boosted his career totals to 151 receptions for 2,036 yards. He is the ninth receiver in school history to reach 2,000 receiving yards the seventh to top 150 career receptions.
A Solid One-Two Punch: Senior Jonathan Rigaud currently ranks second in the Centennial Conference in rushing yards per game (105.8) after his 131-yard effort at Muhlenberg last week.
Making the Blue Jays tougher to defend are the exploits of junior JD Abbott, who added 98 yards and two touchdowns and currently ranks fifth in the league in rushing yards per game (78.8).
Johns Hopkins is the only team in the league with two players averaging more than 75 rushing yards per game.
Wodicka Among National Leaders: In addition to topping 2,000 career receiving yards, junior wide receiver Dan Wodicka's 151 career receptions are the most by any active Division III junior in the nation and his total is the seventh-highest total among all junior receivers in the nation (all divisions)
D'Orazio Emerging: Junior Bob D'Orazio entered the game at Susquehanna with career totals of seven receptions for 116 yards in 14 career games played. Against the Crusaders he had a career-high five receptions for a personal-best 122 yards and one touchdown. He came back in last week's win at Muhlenberg with another solid performance as he had seven receptions for 95 yards and one touchdown to fuel the victory. His 36-yard TD reception early in the third quarter gave JHU a 20-7 lead and he set up JHU's final touchdown with a diving 36-yard reception inside the Muhleberg 10-yard line that led to a JD Abbott rushing TD.
Matey Notches Fourth 200-Yard Game: Junior Robbie Matey made it three straight 200-yard passing games and four overall for his career as he was 21-of-30 for 207 yards with one TD and one INT at Muhlenberg. He also rushed 12 times for 41 yards. Matey is completing a Centennial-high 73.6% of his pass attempts (78-of-106) for 828 yards with four TDs against five INTs. He has also rushed for 152 yards and one touchdown on the year.
Defense Continues Run: With all the talk about the Johns Hopkins offense, the Blue Jay defense continues to excel. Johns Hopkins currently ranks first in the Centennial Conference in total defense (209.8), first in pass defense (153.2), second in rushing defense (56.5) and third in scoring defense (14.0). JHU ranks 12th in the nation in total defense and 13th in rushing defense.
Other notes of interest about the Johns Hopkins defense ...
• Two of the eight touchdowns JHU has allowed on the year have not been scored by the opposition's offense against the Blue Jay defense. They were scored by the opposition's defense or special teams.
• The opposition is averaging just 1.9 yards per rushing attempt and 3.4 yards per play.
• The longest rushing play Johns Hopkins has allowed this season is 13 yards.
• JHU has surrendered exactly one offensive touchdown in the first half this season.
• JHU has accumulated 15 sacks in four games.
Schweyer, Maciow Top 150: The two most experienced players on the Blue Jay defense - seniors Adam Schweyer and Taylor Maciow - both recently topped the 150 career tackle mark.
Schweyer rang up 10 tackles, including two for losses and one sack, in the win at Susquehanna and came back with six tackles and one interception against Moravian. He now has 170 career tackles to his credit.
Maciow punched up eight tackles in the season-opener against Randolph-Macon and came back with five stops against Susquehanna and seven against Moravian and Muhlenberg to push his career total to 172. Among his seven stops against Moravian were a pair of sacks.
Youth Shall Be Served: While seniors Adam Schweyer (28 tackles) and Taylor Maciow (27) rank as the team's top two tacklers, the defense as a whole is one of the youngest in the Centennial Conference. In fact, there is only one senior among JHU's eight-man rotation on the defensive line and just one senior among JHU's top six defensive backs. Three of the top six players in the secondary are freshmen and three of the four starters on the defensive line are sophomores.
Carbone Honored: Junior kicker Richie Carbone entered last Saturday's game at Muhlenberg with exactly two career field goals to his credit. He matched that total in a 10-minute span in the second quarter that turned a 7-7 tie into a 13-7 lead that the Blue Jays would never relinquish. He was good from 23 yards and a career-best 42 yards and hit all three of his extra point attempts to earn Centennial Conference Special Teams Player of the Week. This is the first time in his career he has earned the honor.
Sustained Success: Since the start of the 2002 season the Blue Jays sport an 85-29 (.746) record. Taking it back farther the Blue Jays are 91-32 (.740) since the start of the 2001 season and 96-37 (.722) since the beginning of the 2000 season. The 74 wins the Blue Jays amassed from 2000-09 are the most wins in a decade in school history. Johns Hopkins had never won more than seven games in a season prior to this decade. In the decade completed in 2009, the Blue Jays averaged more than seven wins per season (7.4).
Seven's Heaven: Since the beginning of the 2003 season the Blue Jays are 76-20 (.789) when scoring more than seven points and 0-7 when they have been held to seven points or less.
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