SELINSGROVE, PA – The third-ranked Johns Hopkins football team outscored #5/#4 Susquehanna 30-0 in the second and third quarters to fuel a 40-22 win over th River Hawks in the first regular season Division III matchup between teams ranked in the top five at the time of the game since 2022.
The win improves the Blue Jays' record to 3-0 against one of the top non-conference schedules in the nation. Susquehanna slips to 2-1 and suffers just its second regular season loss since the start of the 2022 season.
Susquehanna opened the game with an impressive 11-play, 79-yard drive that Josh Ehrlich capped with a 21-yard strike to Hunter Morgenroth to give th River Hawks an early 7-0 lead. The drive ate 6:26 off the clock and Susquehanna converted a pair of third-down chances to keep the drive alive before the Ehrlich-Morgenroth connection opened the scoring. As it turned out, that would be the only points Susquehanna would manage in the first three quarters.
The Blue Jays got a return to midfield from sophomore Josh Moore after Morgenroth's touchdown and Brad Paxton got Johns Hopkins on the board seven plays later when he was true from 29 yards out.
After allowing the game-opening touchdown, the Blue Jay defense forced punts on Susquehanna's next two possessions and the Blue Jay offense put together two touchdown drives in a span of less than four minutes to quickly turn the four-points deficit into a 17-7 lead that would hold through halftime.
Taking over at their own 17 after the first of those two punts, the Blue Jays used 11 plays and just under six minutes with senior Geoff Schroeder powering in up the middle to give the Blue Jays a 10-7 lead with 12:53 on the second-quarter clock. Schroeder's touchdown run came on third-and-goal – that was the only third-down play the Blue Jays were forced to convert on the drive.
After piecing together the methodical touchdown drive, the Blue Jays went quick-strike to extend the lead to 17-7 on their next possession. After forcing the second of those two River Hawk punts, the Blue Jays were pinned at their own 13 and nursing the three-point lead. After a short completion set the Jays up their 17, it was Bay Harvey finding junior Cole Crotty in-stride deep down the sideline and he raced untouchded into the end zone to push the lead to 10 with just over nine minutes remaining in the first half.
Both defenses stiffened over the final nine minutes of the first half. During that time, the Blue Jays got a big stop on a River Hawk fourth-down attempt with just over three minutes remaining in the second quarter to help maintain the 10-point lead at the break.
The Blue Jays took the drama out of the game, or so it seemed, in a third quarter that saw them outscore the River Hawks 16-0 to extend the lead to 33-7 entering the final period.
After kicking off to open the game, the Blue Jays had the first crack at possession in the third quarter and used five plays, including three chunk-yardage plays, to push the lead to 24-7. Harvey scrambled for 18 yards and then hit Moore down the middle for 21 yards to set the Jays up at River Hawk 17. There, he hit Moore on a perfectly executed wide receiver screen and Moore raced untouched into the end zone.
After the teams traded punts, it was a Chase Alley punt that pinned Susquehanna at its own one-yard line. One play later, disaster struck for the River Hawks as Ehrlich narrowly avoided a sack deep in the end zone, but the Blue Jays' Tyler Dasilva wrapped up Robert Stolfa three yards behind the goal line for a safety after he caught Ehrlich's shovel pass in the end zone
The 26-7 lead was 33-7 late in the third quarter when Schroeder added his second thee-yard rushing touchdown of the game to cap an eight-play, 73-yard drive that seemingly put the game away.
The 26-point lead was still intact midway through the fourth quarter, when Susquehanna made things interesting with two touchdowns in a 60-second span. A 37-yard Rahshan La Mons touchdown run with 6:48 on the clock made it 33-14 and La Mons went in from the two-yard line with 5:48 to play as the River Hawks recovered a Blue Jay fumble on the kickoff after La Mons' first score.
Now leading by just 11 and momentum clearly in maroon in orange, the Blue Jays took over with 5:48 on the clock and needing to sustain a drive to seal the win; they did just that.
Going exclusively to the ground game, the Blue Jays went 75 yards one seven plays with Schroeder breaking loose from 38 yards with just over two minutes remaining to seal Hopkins' 20th all-time win against a nationally-ranked team, including its second in as many weeks.
Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
• Harvey was 17-of-24 for 258 yards with two touchowns and also rushed for 70 yards in the victory.
• Schroeder powered a Blue Jay ground game that churned out 197 yards as he rushed for 120 yards and three touchdowns.
• Crotty was Harvey's favorite target as he had six receptions for 157 yards and the one score.
• Junior Browning Trainer paced the Blue Jay defense with nine tackles, while senior Jack Schondelmayer added eight stops.
• The Blue Jay defense registered five sacks on the day and added Kevin Olah interception of Ehrich as well. Graduate student Kellen Gibson (2.0) and junior Sawyer Olson (1.5) combined for 3.5 of the team's five sacks.
Inside the Box Score – Susquehanna
• Ehrlich was 18-of-30 for 199 yards and one touchdown and added 65 yards rushing as well.
• La Mons, who was making his season debut, rushed for 110 yards and the two late scores and added six receptions for 28 yards.
• Ben Fleming and Jesse Ruisch both posted eight tackles to lead the way defensively for Susquehanna.
Johns Hopkins will return to action on Friday, October 3 when the Blue Jays welcome Dickinson to Homewood Field for the Centennial Conference opener for both teams (6 pm).
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