Johns Hopkins-Dickinson Football Notes

Game Links
Live Video • Live Stats

The Game: Ninth-ranked Johns Hopkins (5-0, 4-0 Centennial) opens the second half portion of its schedule as the Blue Jays welcome Dickinson (2-3, 2-2 CC) to Homewood Field. Kickoff is set for 7 pm on Friday, October 16.

A Look Back: Johns Hopkins improved its record to 5-0 overall and 4-0 in the Centennial Conference with a 41-5 victory at Juniata on Saturday, October 3. Dickinson snapped a two-game losing streak with a 13-7 win at Franklin & Marshall that day.

Poll Position: Johns Hopkins is ranked ninth in this week's AFCA Division III Poll and 11th in the D3football.com Poll. Dickinson is not ranked in either poll.

State of Affairs: The 2015 Johns Hopkins football roster consists of 88 players from 23 different states. The Dickinson roster counts 88 players from 16 states, Washington DC and two foreign countries.

At Home at Homewood: Johns Hopkins has parlayed its home field advantage into victories in recent years. In fact, the Blue Jays are 28-3 in the home blacks since the start of the 2010 season.

Road Warriors: With the recent 41-5 victory at Juniata, the Blue Jays extended their regular season road winning streak to 13 games. The Blue Jays last dropped a regular season road game at F&M late in the 2012 season.

Looking for 6-0: A win this week would give Johns Hopkins its fifth straight 6-0 start and its seventh in the the last 13 years. Prior to this stretch, which began in 2003, Johns Hopkins hadn't started a season at 6-0 since 1931.

Off the Bye: Johns Hopkins will be looking to extend a seven-game winning streak in games played after its bye week. The Blue Jays last lost their first game after a bye in 2006 and are 9-3 in games off the bye under head coach Jim Margraff.
In its last five games played immediately after the bye, the Blue Jays have outscored the opposition 238-37.

Before the Bye: Johns Hopkins closed out the first-half portion of its 2015 schedule at Juniata on October 3. Since the Centennial Conference went to a league-wide bye week after the fifth game of the season in 2011, Johns Hopkins is 25-0 in games played before its bye.

Friday Night Lights: This week's game against Gettysburg will be the 52nd Johns Hopkins has played on Friday night since 1982. Since then, the Blue Jays have compiled a 34-16-1 (.676) record in Friday night games, including a 30-11-1 (.726) mark under head coach Jim Margraff.
This week's game will be the seventh Johns Hopkins and Dickinson have played on Friday night with all six previous games coming since 2004. Johns Hopkins has won four of the previous five at Homewood and topped the Devils, 42-7, last year in Carlisle on Friday night.

Flipping the Calendar to October: While September has been kind to Johns Hopkins of late (see notes below), October has been nearly as successful for the Blue Jays. In fact, JHU will carry a 16-game October winning streak into this week's game against Dickinson. Johns Hopkins last lost a game in the month of October in 2010, when Ursinus topped the Blue Jays, 26-17.

Sweet September: With the 49-28 win against Muhlenberg, Johns Hopkins has won 23 straight and 26 of its last 27 games in the month of September. The only team to beat JHU in the month of September in its last 27 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 15 straight at home in September.

Offense Rolling: Johns Hopkins has scored 40 or more points in each of the first five games this season (52 @ RMC, 59 vs. Susquehanna, 45 @ Moravian, 49 vs. Muhlenberg, 41 @ Juniata). This is the first time in school history that Johns Hopkins has scored 40+ in five straight games.

Among the National Leaders: Entering this week's game against Dickinson, Johns Hopkins ranks in the top 30 in the nation in scoring offense (9th • 49.2 ppg), total offense (23rd • 505.0 ypg), rushing offense (30th • 251.0), third-down percentage (2nd • .609) and first downs (14th •138 (27.6/game)).

Quick Starts: Johns Hopkins has had 31 combined possessions in the first half of its five games thus far. Of those 31, 21 have ended with touchdowns and two others with a field goal. In other words, Hopkins has scored on 74.2% of its first-half possessions this season.

More Quick Starts: Johns Hopkins has outscored the opposition 153-36 in the first half of its four games this season. Included in that first-half breakdown is a 69-10 margin in the first quarter and an 84-26 margin the second quarter.

Cherry Tops 2,000: Senior running back Brandon Cherry rushed for 99 yards and one touchdown in the win against Muhlenberg and added 72 yards against Juniata. Against the Mules, he became the ninth player in school history to top 2,000 career rushing yards.
With his recent efforts, Cherry now ranks eighth in career rushing yards (2,168), tied for sixth in career rushing TDs (22), tied for eighth in overall touchdowns (26) and 17th in all-purpose yards (2,843). Earlier this season, Cherry added his name in the record book in another spot as he tied the Johns Hopkins record for touchdowns in a game (4) as he scored on runs of 73, 14 and six yards and added a 34-yard TD reception in a 45-23 win at Moravian.

Walters Closing on 2,000, 20: Junior Stuart Walters rushed for 64 yards and one TD at Juniata to push his career totals to 1,723 yards and 18 TDs. He ranks 13th in school history in career rushing yards and tied for 13th in rushing TDs.
Walters also has 2,273 career all-purpose yards and 22 overall touchdowns to his credit. His 22 overall TDs are tied for 14th in school history.

Germano Among National Leaders: Junior quarterback Jonathan Germano has gotten off to a quick start this season as he has guided the Blue Jays to five victories in his first five career starts.
Through five games, Germano is 97-of-126 (.770) for 1,192 yards with 15 touchdowns against just four interceptions. In addition, he has rushed for 248 yards and three more scores.
Germano currently ranks first in the nation in completion percentage (.770), fifth in the nation in pass efficiency (189.39) and 12th in touchdown passes (15).
In the recent 59-7 victory against Susquehanna, Germano became the first Johns Hopkins quarterback since 1989 to rush for 100 yards in a game as he rushed 15 times for 105 yards and one TD.

Balanced Rushing Attack: With an average of 251.0 yards per game on the ground, Johns Hopkins ranks 30th in the nation in rushing offense.
Unlike many of the top rushing teams in the nation, Johns Hopkins doesn't have an individual ranked among the top 120 in the nation in rushing yards per game.
What the Blue Jays do have is five players who have rushed for 100 or more yards in five games. Senior RB Brandon Cherry (75.8), junior RB Stuart Walters (66.2) and junior QB Jonathan Germano (49.6) all account for at least 45 yards per game. In addition, Ryan Cary (28.6) and Tyler Messinger (28.0) are also averaging 25 or more yards per game (note that Messinger did not play in the season opener so his average is for four games, not five).
The five players above have combined for 16 of Johns Hopkins' 17 rushing touchdowns thus far and fuel a rushing game that is averaging 5.2 yards per attempt.

Picking Up Where He Left Off: Junior wide receiver Bradley Munday picked up right where he left off last season as he had 10 receptions for 155 yards and two touchdowns and totaled 229 all-purpose yards in the win at Randolph-Macon. The 155 receiving yards and 229 all-purpose yards are both career highs. Through five games, Munday leads the team in receptions (37), receiving yards (407) and all-purpose yards (537). He ranks first in the Centennial in receptions per game (7.4), second in receiving yards per game (81.4) and sixth in all-purpose yards per game (107.4).
Munday now has career totals of 135 receptions for 1,565 yards and 11 touchdowns. He ranks ninth in school history in receptions and 11th in receiving yards.

Donaldson Tops 1,000: Junior Quinn Donaldson became the 23rd player in school history to reach 1,000 career receiving yards as he had three receptions for 62 yards against Susquehanna. Through the game against Juniata he now has career totals of 73 receptions for 1,135 yards and 15 TDs. He is tied for 10th in school history in career TD receptions, ranks 20th in receiving yards and tied for 22nd in receptions.

Spreading the Wealth: Through just five games, Johns Hopkins already has 15 different players who have at least one reception on the year. Perhaps the most exciting part for Blue Jay fans is the top of the receiving chart, which shows three juniors (Bradley Munday, Quinn Donaldson, Boone Lewis, Jr.) and one sophomore (David Brookhart) as the top four receivers. Those four have combined for 67 receptions for 805 yards (12.0 yards/reception) and 12 touchdowns.

Fresh Troops: The Johns Hopkins defense has long been known for playing deep into its bench and this season has been no different thus far. Through five games, 16 different players have 10 or more tackles; with that depth and the ability to keep players fresh, no player ranks among the top 25 in the Centennial Conference in tackles per game.
Junior Dan Johnson leads the team in tackles with 31, while classmate Jack Campbell is just behind with 30 to his credit. Emerging quickly is sophomore Keonte Henson, who ranks third on the team in tackles (27) and leads the team in tackles for losses (6.0) and sacks (2.5).
Rounding out Johns Hopkins' top five tacklers are senior Keith Corliss (23) and freshman Addison Quinones (22). Corliss is the only senior among Johns Hopkins' seven players with 15 or more tackles on the year.

Fantasy Numbers: The Johns Hopkins defense counts 35 tackles for losses, 11 sacks, eight interceptions and four fumble recoveries to its credit through five games. Although the sample size is small (just five games), the number of players involved in those momentum type plays is remarkable. In all, 19 different players have been in on at least one tackle for loss, 10 have at least half a sack, six different players have an interception and four players have recovered a fumble.

Defense Among Centennial's Best: While offense may sell tickets, the Blue Jays have always preached defense first. Through five games, the returns are favorable that this year's unit will continue the trend of strong units at Homewood.
Johns Hopkins currently ranks first in the Centennial Conference in scoring defense (16.0) and second in total defense (323.8) and rushing defense (116.6).

Defensive Milestones: The Johns Hopkins defense has had several players reach milestones recently and several others approaching milestones:

Jack Campbell - Recorded 100th tackle of his career in win against Muhlenberg.

Keith Corliss - Needs 14 tackles to reach 200 for his career.

Lance Hammond - Needs five tackles to reach 50 for his career.

Keonte Henson - Needs seven tackles to reach 50 for his career.

Dan Johnson - Needs seven tackles to reach 75 for his career.

Charlie Kassis - Needs one tackle to reach 50 for his career.

Garrett Spek - Needs three tackles to reach 50 for his career.

Jack Toner - Recorded 100th tackle of his career in win at Juniata.

Brady Watts - Recoreded 100th tackle of his career in win against Muhlenberg • Needs two TFLs to reach 20 for his career.

Campbell, Sullivan Handle Kicking Chores: Johns Hopkins junior Nick Campbell and sophomore Jamie Sullivan are sharing the place-kicking duties this fall. While Sullivan handles all the kickoff chores, the two have literally alternated every place-kick through five games.
Campbell is 17-for-17 on extra points and 4-for-4 on field goals (22, 33, 37, 22), while Sullivan is 16-for-16 on extra points and hit his only field goal attempt (20).
For their careers, Campbell is 97-of-99 on extra points and 15-of-19 on field goals and Sullivan is 48-of-49 on extra points and 7-of-8 on field goals.

Margraff Holds State Record: Johns Hopkins head coach Jim Margraff became the winningest college football coach in Maryland state history with a 42-14 win at Ursinus last season (November 1, 2014) as that gave him 175 career victories, a mark he upped to 183 with the recent win at Juniata.
Margraff now sports a career record of 183-83-3 (.686) entering this week's game against Dickinson.

On a Roll: Johns Hopkins is 48-1 in its last 49 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.

On A Roll, Part II: Johns Hopkins is 51-5 in its last 56 games overall since late in the 2010 season.

Sustained Success: Since the start of the 2002 season the Blue Jays sport a 117-33 (.780) record. Taking it back farther the Blue Jays are 123-36 (.774) since the start of the 2001 season and 128-41 (.757) since the beginning of the 2000 season.

Seven's Heaven: Since the beginning of the 2003 season the Blue Jays are 108-24 (.818) when scoring more than seven points and 0-7 when they have been held to seven points or less.

- Pride and Poise -