Johns Hopkins-Muhlenberg Football Notes

The Game: Johns Hopkins (3-0, 2-0 Centennial), ranked 12th nationally, heads to Allentown for a key early-season Centennial Conference showdown at 23rd-ranked Muhlemberg (3-0, 2-0 CC). For the second straight week, Johns Hopkins will play in the only Centennial Conference game featuring two unbeaten teams.

A Look Back: Johns Hopkins improved to 3-0 on the year and ran its regular season winning streak to 14 games with a 33-14 win against Moravian last Saturday. Muhlenberg set up this week's matchup of unbeatens later last Saturday afternoon as the Mules blew past McDaniel, 59-10.

Poll Position: Johns Hopkins is ranked 12th in this week's AFCA Division III Poll and 14th in this week's D3football.com poll. Muhlenberg is ranekd 23rd in the AFCA Poll and is listed as receiving votes in the D3football.com Poll.

For Starters: This week's AFCA Poll is the first of the 2014 season. The #12 ranking Johns Hopkins drew is the highest the Blue Jays have ever started in the poll. Previously the highest JHU was ever ranked in the first AFCA Poll of a season was 13th (2013).

Ranking Streaks: Johns Hopkins is ranked in the top 20 of the AFCA Poll for the 30th consecutive week dating back to early in the 2011 season and in the top 25 for the 31st consecutive week.

A Centennial First: This week's game between 12th-ranked Johns Hopkins and 23rd-ranked Muhlenberg will be the first game in Centennial Conference history featuring two teams ranked in the top 25.

Sweet September: Johns Hopkins enters this week's game having won 18 straight and 21 of its last 22 games in the month of September. The only team to beat JHU in the month of September in its last 22 games? Randolph-Macon, which posted a 41-37 win over JHU on September 11, 2010.

More September: Johns Hopkins has not lost a home game in the month of September since September 22, 2007, when Moravian escaped Homewood with a 44-41 victory. Since then the Blue Jays have won 13 straight at home in September.

A Final September: Johns Hopkins has won nine straight road games in the month of September. JHU last lost a road game in the opening month of the season in 2010, when Randolph-Macon topped the Blue Jays, 41-37.

Can't Get More Even: The success of the Johns Hopkins football team since the start of the 2001 season has been well documented. Amazingly, that success has been nearly identical on the road and at home. Dating back to the start of the 2001 season, Johns Hopkins has played 73 home games and is 55-18 in those games. Remarkably, head coach Jim Margraff's team has been just as successful on the road as the Blue Jays are 55-17 in 72 games away from Homewood Field during that time.

Balanced Ground Game Leading Offense: It's not a surprise that the Johns Hopkins offense is relying on its potent ground game through three games. The Blue Jays are currently averaging a Centennial-best 257 yards per game on the ground and have a league-high 13 rushing touchdowns in three games. In addition, Johns Hopkins is averaging 4.9 yards per rushing attempt.
Headlining the rushing attack for the Blue Jays are sophomore Stuart Walters and junior Brandon Cherry, who have already combined for 473 yards on the year (despite Cherry sitting out the game against Moravian). Walters currently ranks second in the CC in rushing yards per game (99.3), while Cherry ranks second (87.5). As if having Walters and Cherry isn't enough, Johns Hopkins head coach Jim Margraff has two other capable threats in senior quarterback Braden Anderson and sophomore running back Dionisio Roman. Both have rushed for exactly 114 yards (38.0/game) and five touchdowns thus far.
Walters is inching closer to 1,000 career rushing yards as he enters this week's game with 961. He would become the 25th player in school history to reach the 1,000-yard mark.
Cherry has jumped from 19th to 17th on JHU's career rushing list with his quick start this season as he now has 1,413 career rushing yards to his credit.

Anderson Takes Over: Senior Braden Anderson made his first career start a successful one as he was 12-of-23 for 190 yards with one touchdown and also rushed for a pair of scores in the 42-3 win over Randolph-Macon. Through three games he is 45-of-72 (.625) for 484 yards with one TD against three INTs. As noted above, he has also rushed for 114 yards and five touchdowns in three games.
Anderson is the seventh straight Johns Hopkins quarterback to win the first start of his career.

Donaldson Breaks Out: With the loss of career receptions leader Dan Wodicka to graduation, the Blue Jay offense was in need of at least one young receiver to emerge. Hopkins may have found its man in sophomore Quinn Donaldson, who led the Blue Jays with five receptions for 111 yards and one touchdown in the season-opening victory against Randolph-Macon and added eight catches for 90 yards vs. Moravian. The eight receptions against Moravian and 111 yards against Randolph-Macon are both career hights for Donaldson, who had seven receptions for 89 yards and no TDs last season as a freshman. He leads the team with 14 receptions for 208 yards and one TD on the year.

Many Happy Returns: While the number of kickoff and punt returns the Blue Jays have amassed through three games has been minimal, the results have been effective. Sophomore Bradley Munday is averaging 16.3 yards per punt return and 25.0 yards per kickoff return. Classmate Stuart Walters is averaging 24.0 yards per kickoff return, while junior Evan Adamo has one punt return for 15 yards.

Defense Starts Strong: The Johns Hopkins defense has gotten the season off to a good start as the Blue Jays are allowing just 12.3 points and 324.0 yards per game thus far. The opposition is averaging just 3.4 yards per rushing attempt and has converted just 16-of-48 (.333) third down opportunities.

More Defense: In addition to allowing just 12.3 points per game, the Blue Jay defense has forced eight turnovers and generated seven sacks in three games. Hopkins' eight caused turnovers are tied for third in the Centennial, while the seven sacks rank fourth.

Good Hands Team: The Johns Hopkins defense came up with just eight interceptions in 11 games during the 2013 season. Through three games this season, the Blue Jays already have seven to their credit with three against Randolph-Macon and Moravian and one against Susquehanna.
Sophomores Jack Toner and Garrett Spek both have a pair of intercpetions on the year, while Brady Watts, Ryan Rice and Sebastian Edwards all have one thus far.

Hitting the Century Mark: Johns Hopkins had two players reach the 100-tackle mark for their career last week vs. Moravian. Senior defensive end Michael Longo recorded seven tackles, including one sack, and now has 106 tackles, 24.0 tackles for losses and 15.5 sacks in his career. Junior Keith Corliss also recorded seven tackles against Moravian and now counts 105 career tackles to his credit. In addition to Longo and Corliss, senior defensive back Ryan Rice is within striking distance of the 100-tackle mark as he has 93 tackles, including 7.5 for losses, to his credit.

Margraff 10th on Division III Victories List: Johns Hopkins head coach Jim Margraff picked up career victory number 170 with last week's win against Moravian. In addition to ranking as the winningest coach in school history, Margraff also ranks 10th among active NCAA Division III coaches in career victories; below is a look at the top 10:

Rk. - Name - School - Career Victories
1. - Rick Giancola - Montclair St. - 220
2. - Michael DeLong - Springfield - 194
3. - Mike Drass - Wesley - 189
4. - Steve Johnson - Bethel - 186
5. - Larry Kindbom - Washington U. - 185
6. - Rich Lackner - Carnegie Mellon - 184
7T. - Vic Wallace - Rockford - 179
7T. - Barry Streeter - Gettysburg - 179
9. - Norm Eash - Illinois Wesleyan - 175
10. - Jim Margraff - Johns Hopkins - 170

Margraff Ranks Second on State Victory Chart: Johns Hopkins head coach Jim Margraff sports a career record of 170-82-3 (.673) entering this week's game 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. JHU Ties Victory Record: Johns Hopkins posted a 10-1 record in 2013 and tied the school record for victories in a season. Only four times previously - 2003, 2009, 2011 and 2012 - had Hopkins won 10 games in a season. Johns Hopkins had never won more than seven games in a season prior to 2002, but the Blue Jays have posted eight or more wins 10 times in the last 12 years.

Centennial Conference Champions: Johns Hopkins claimed its ninth Centennial Conference title last season with all nine championships coming since 2002. JHU's nine CC titles are tied for the most in league history with Dickinson and Muhlenberg.

Centennial Favorites: For the sixth consecutive year and the ninth time in the last 11 years Johns Hopkins was selected as the favorite in the league's preseason poll of coaches and SIDs.
The Blue Jays received 14 of 20 first-place votes and totaled 158 points to out-distance Muhlenberg, which checked in at number two in the poll with six first-place votes and 147 points.

A Return to the NCAAs: Johns Hopkins made its third straight and fifth overall appearance in the NCAA Playoffs last season. The Blue Jays are 3-5 all-time in NCAA action with a trip to the 2009 NCAA Quarterfinals and an appearance in the second round in 2012 highlighting their playoff history.

On a Roll: Johns Hopkins is 36-1 in its last 37 regular season games dating back to late in the 2010 season. The only team to top the Blue Jays duirng that run? Franklin & Marshall, which topped the Blue Jays, 14-12, in 2012. JHU's 37-game regular season run began with a 49-24 win at Susquehanna on October 23, 2010.

On A Roll, Part II: Johns Hopkins is 38-4 in its last 42 games overall since late in the 2010 season. Three of the Blue Jays' four losses during that time have come in the NCAA Playoffs.

At Home at Homewood: Johns Hopkins has parlayed its home field advantage into victories in recent years. In fact, the Blue Jays are 22-3 in the home blacks since the start of the 2010 season.

Sustained Success: Since the start of the 2002 season the Blue Jays sport a 104-32 (.765) record. Taking it back farther the Blue Jays are 110-35 (.759) since the start of the 2001 season and 115-40 (.742) since the beginning of the 2000 season.

Seven's Heaven: Since the beginning of the 2003 season the Blue Jays are 95-22 (.812) when scoring more than seven points and 0-7 when they have been held to seven points or less.

- Pride and Poise -