BALTIMORE, MD – There was no shortage of storylines entering Saturday's season-opening non-conference football game between Ithaca and Johns Hopkins at Homewood Field. Regardless of which shade of blue you were wearing, the spirit blue of Johns Hopkins or the navy blue of Ithaca, there was a lot to unpack.
On a day when Johns Hopkins honored late head coach Jim Margraff at halftime on his pending induction into the College Football Hall of Fame later this fall, it was, of course, a defensive play that sealed a 30-21 victory for the Blue Jays.
Even as his teams became among the most prolific in the nation over the final 10 years of his coaching career, Margraff would note to anyone who would listen that "we are a defense-first football team."
Ithaca, which was playing its first game under the direction of head coach Brandon Maguire, trimmed what had once been a 23-point deficit to nine at 30-21 and was near midfield when quarterback Michael Reed's pass down the middle was intercepted by Blue Jay linebacker Jack Smith with just over 90 seconds remaining to seal the outcome.
Early on, Johns Hopkins had used a game-opening 24-yard Kaleb Wayt field goal to open the scoring and then saw first-time starting quarterback Luke Baker polish off a pair of drives before halftime with touchdown passes of 35 and 20 yards to senior Cole Crotty to stake the Blue Jays to a 17-0 lead at the break.
The lead swelled to 23-0 with a pair of third-quarter Wayt field goals from 21 and 44 yards before the Bombers got going offensively.
A 33-yard touchdown reception by Nicholas Lang with just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter made it 23-7, but the Blue Jays answered with an 18-yards Robby Enright touchdown reception one play into the fourth quarter to retake the 23-point lead.
Ithaca answered with a 10-play, 75-yard drive that Lang capped with a 24-yard touchdown reception and the Bombers then turned an interception into a short-field touchdown that Reed polished off with a one-yard scoring run to make it a nine-point game with 4:41 on the clock.
The Ithaca defense forced a three-and-out and the Bombers took over at their own two-yard line after a Chase Alley punt was downed beautifully by sophomore Cole Stup. Four plays later the Bombers were on the move out near midfield with a first down at the their own 47.
Enter Smith, who picked the perfect time to record the first interception of his career to seal the victory.
On a day when the Blue Jays rolled up more than 460 yards of total offense and scored 30 points, Margraff would have loved that it was a defensive play that sealed the win for John Hopkins.
After all, regardless of how prolific the Blue Jays may be, they were always a defense-first team under their Hall of Fame coach.
 Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
• Baker was 18-of-31 for 325 yards with three touchdowns and one interception and added 41 yards rushing in the victory. • Crotty finished with five receptions for 101 yards and the two scores, while Enright added a team-high six receptions for 68 yards and the one touchdown.
• Sophomore Brock Dandridge paced a balanced rushing attack for the Blue Jays with 61 yards on 12 carries.
• Senior Justin Scully made the first start of his career at linebacker and posted a team-high 14 tackles and added one pass breakup, while Spencer Kramer totaled 13 tackles, including one for a loss, and added one interception and one pass breakup.
• Wayt entered Saturday's with one career field goal to his credit, but was 3-for-3 on the day and hit all three of his extra points as well.
Inside the Box Score – Ithaca
• Reed rushed 23 times for 158 yards and the one touchdown and was 14-of-38 for 175 yards with the two touchdowns and two interceptions.
• Lang was on the back end of six of Reed's completions for 105 yards and the two scores.
• Preseason All-American Joe Spirra rang up a team-high 11 tackles to lead the way defensively for Ithaca.
Notes of Interest
• With the win, Baker is the 14th consecutive Johns Hopkins quarterback dating back to 2006 to win the first start of his career. One of the other 13 was Zack Baker, Luke's older brother, who guided JHU to a win at Dickinson early in the 2017 season in his first career start.
• Johns Hopkins improved to 55-5 in the month of September dating back to 2010. During that time, the Blue Jays are 25-2 at home in September in that time.
Johns Hopkins will return to action on Saturday, September 12 when the Blue Jays travel to Randolph-Macon to take on the Yellow Jackets (1 pm).
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Gallery: (9-5-2026) Football vs. Ithaca
