BALTIMORE, MD – The 18^th-ranked Johns Hopkins football team scored the final 20 points of Saturday's Centennial-MAC Bowl Game against Stevenson as the Blue Jays knocked off the visiting Mustangs, 27-7, at Homewood Field.  The win closes the Blue Jays' season at 10-1, while the Mustangs finish 8-3.  The win gives the Blue Jays their second Centennial-MAC Bowl victory in two appearances; both wins have come against Stevenson (2019).
 
The Blue Jays found themselves in a 7-7 tie after the Mustangs' Steve Smothers caught a 24-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Sedgwick with 9:22 on the second quarter clock.  From there, it was an efficient Blue Jay offense and a stingy Blue Jay defense that sealed Hopkins' third straight win in the series.
 
Johns Hopkins quickly answered the Smothers touchdown as the Blue Jays went 87 yards on nine plays with Ryan Stevens connecting with Quinn Revere from 14 yards out to give the Blue Jays a 13-7 lead that they would never relinquish.  Stevens rushed for 25 yards on the drive and needed to complete just one pass – the touchdown to Revere – to lead Hopkins to the end zone.
 
After the Blue Jay defense forced a three-and-out, Johns Hopkins took over again at their own 43 and quickly went to work.  Three Danny Wolf rushes generated 17 yards and Stevens later hit senior Artie Collins for 12 yards to move the Blue Jays into the red zone; two plays later, Stevens hit Collins down the middle from 11 yards out to push the lead to 20-7 with just under three minutes remaining before halftime.
 
The 13-point lead held until the first play of the fourth quarter, when Stevens threw his third touchdown pass of the game – this one to Emmett Turner on third-and-goal from the one-yard line – to close out the scoring. The Stevens-to-Turner touchdown capped a nine-play, 66-yard drive for Johns Hopkins.
 
The Blue Jay defense closed the game and season with a standout second-half performance.  The Mustangs were forced to punt five times in the second half, while Nick Seidel ended two SU drives with interceptions, including one in the end zone, and Duncan Van Kouteren forced and recovered a Mustang fumble on their final drive.  Seidel's interception in the end zone ended a seven-play, 83-yard drive for Stevenson late in the fourth quarter; on their seven other second-half possessions, the Mustangs managed just 33 yards of offense.
 
Seidel was named the game MVP as he had four tackles and the two interceptions and also rushed for the first touchdown of his career; the touchdown gave the Blue Jays a 7-0 first-quarter lead.
 
Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
• The Blue Jays rolled up 439 yards of total offense with 307 through the air and 132 on the ground.
• Stevens was 23-of-37 for 262 yards and three touchdowns.
• Colins has 11 receptions for 109 yards and the one score and Revere had five receptions for 93 yards and one TD.
• Junior Luke Schuermann led the Blue Jay defense with eight tackles, including 3.0 sacks and 4.5 tackles for losses.  He ends the season with school records for sacks (14) and tackles for losses (26.5).
• The Johns Hopkins defense finished the day with six sacks, 12 tackles for losses and three caused turnovers (2 INTs / 1 FR).
 
Inside the Box Score – Stevenson
•  Sedgwick was 13-of-30 for 205 yards with one touchdown with five of his 13 completions going to Smothers (5-97-1).
• Brandon Walker rushed 21 times for 54 yards, but the yards lost on sacks resulted in a net of 41 yards on the ground for SU.
• Tashan Fitzgerald had four tackles, including two of SU's three sacks, and forced a fumble that the Mustangs recovered.
 
Other Notes of Interest
•  JHU is now 16-12 all-time in post-season games, including 2-0 in Centennial-MAC Bowl Games.
• The 10-win season in the 11^th in school history with all 11 coming since 2003.
• Since the start of the 2010 season, Johns Hopkins is now 100 games over .500 (120-20).
• JHU tied the school record for consecutive home wins with its 12^th; this is third time Johns Hopkins has won 12 straight at home (2014-15- / 2017-18).
• Blue Jay quarterbacks combined to throw a school-record-tying 39 touchdown passes this season with Stevens tying the single-season individual record (35).
• Seidel ends his career with 13 interceptions, which ties him for sixth in school history.
 
-  30 -


  Read Full Article