BALTIMORE, MD – There is still a chance that there is one more chapter to be written in the book that is the 2026 Johns Hopkins football season. But if Friday's season-ending 17-3 win against Centennial Conference-leading Franklin & Marshall at Homewood Field was in fact the ending to the script, the script ended as well as anyone could have imagined.
The Blue Jays (5-5, 4-3 Centennial) brought the curtain down on the regular season with the 14-point victory that was equal parts offense, defense and, well, just stunning.
The stunning came in a number of ways. Consider:
• The Blue Jays churned out 246 rushing yards against an F&M defense that entered the game allowing just 83.4 yards per game on the ground.
• Johns Hopkins controlled the ball for more than 38 minutes; the Diplomats were averaging more than 34 minutes of possession time per game, but after holding the ball for 9:29 in the first quarter, F&M had the ball for just 12:08 over the final 45 minutes.
• The Blue Jay defense surrendered 52 yards of total offense in the first quarter, then just 71 more yards over the final three quarters.
The victory also gained the Blue Jays some fans in Carlisle, Pennsylvania of all places. That in itself is stunning.
F&M (8-1, 5-2 CC) entered the game with a simple path to claiming the Centennial's automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Playoffs. Beat Johns Hopkins and the bid belonged to the Diplomats. However, the loss for F&M now puts Dickinson firmly in control of the race for the bid as the Red Devils claim the AQ with a win on Saturday against Muhlenberg. In case you didn't know, Dickinson is located in Carlisle.
On Friday night, the Diplomats would strike first as they capitalized on a short field late in the first quarter to grab a 3-0 lead on a 32-yard Michael Fleming field goal.
After the teams traded possessions, the Blue Jays put together a nine-play, 70-yard drive that junior Josh Moore capped with a 12-yard touchdown run with just over nine minutes remaining in the second quarter. Facing an F&M team that was averaging a hair under 30 points per game, that touchdown didn't figure to hold up. As it turned out, it would have.
It would have because the Blue Jay defense wouldn't allow the Diplomats more than 24 yards on any of its final seven possessions of the game and F&M would cross the Johns Hopkins 40-yard line just once in the second half, and that drive ended at the Blue Jay 38.
On the other side of the ball, the tandem of sophomore quarterback Milan Desai (113), making just his second career start, and Moore (93) would combine for 206 rushing yards and Moore's touchdown that gave the Blue Jays a lead they would never relinquish.
A 25-yard Brad Paxton field goal on the final play of the first half gave the Blue Jays a 10-3 lead. The Blue Jays first two possessions of the second half ended in a punt and a fumble inside the F&M 20, but Hopkins turned good field position late in the third quarter into what proved to be the insurance touchdown.
Taking over at their own 46 after an F&M punt, the Blue Jays needed just four plays to cover 54 yards with Desai hitting Alex Orecchio down the sideline from 28 yards out to extend the lead to 17-3 with 2:03 on the third-quarter clock.
The Diplomats would have three more cracks at the Blue Jay defense in the final 17 minutes, but those three drives netted a total of just 12 yards and a Kevin Olah interception on F&M's final offensive play of the game sealed the victory for the Blue Jays.
The Johns Hopkins defense would hold F&M to just 12 first downs and 123 yards of total offense. Sophomore Cole Stup registered a team-high 11 tackles, including one sack, while Sawyer Olson added five tackles, two tackles for a loss and one sack in his final game on Homewood Field.
Desai was 16-of-32 for 172 yards and one touchdown and rushed for the 113 yards, while Moore added six receptions for 48 yards to go along with his 93 rushing yards and one touchdown.
Johns Hopkins could still qualify for the Centennial-MAC Bowl Series and have one game next Saturday (November 21). For that to happen, either F&M or Dickinson, whichever of the two does not earn the Centennial's automatic bid to the NCAA Playoffs, must earn an at-large bid into the NCAAs. That will play its way out on Saturday.
If the book that is the 2026 Johns Hopkins football season adds an 11th chapter, that one will be written on the road. If there are only 10 chapters in the book, the ending wasn't too bad.
Notes of Interest
• The win is Johns Hopkins' 19th straight at home on a Friday night dating back to 2008.
• JHU is now 26-3 in the month of November dating back to 2018.
• JHU is 68-7 in its last 75 games at Homewood Field dating back to 2014.
• Today's game marked the first time Johns Hopkins closed the regular season on a day other than Saturday since 1934, when the Blue Jays played Maryland on Thanksgiving Day.
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Gallery: (11-13-2026) Football vs. F&M
