GETTYSBURG, Pa. (Oct. 3) - Junior running back Scott Martorana (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris Central) rushed for a career-high 160 yards and three touchdowns and Johns Hopkins out-gained Gettysburg, 450-141 as the Blue Jays rolled to a 37-13 win over the Bullets. The victory, which spoiled Gettysburg's Homecoming, improves Hopkins' record to 3-1, 2-0 in the Centennial, while the Bullets fall to 1-4, 1-2. The win is also the fifth straight for Johns Hopkins over Gettysburg, while the 24-point margin of victory is the largest ever for the Blue Jays against the Bullets.
Filling in for an injured Adam Gentile, Martorana wasted little time putting his stamp on the game as he carried the ball on every play of a game-opening six-play, 77-yard drive which he capped with a 40-yard TD run just 2:38 into the game. He added a three-yard scoring run to make it 13-0 just eight minutes later and finished the day with a four-yard TD run with 6:02 left in the third quarter to extend the lead to 27-6. Martorana sat out the final 21 minutes of the game and finished with 176 all-purpose yards as he also caught one pass for 16 yards.
The Blue Jay defense limited Gettysburg All-America running back Paul Smith, who entered the game averaging 145 yards per game on the ground, to a season-low 50 yards on 18 carries. He did account for the Bullets' two touchdowns with a 1 yard run in the second quarter which cut the deficit to 13-6, and a 44-yard punt return for a score to close out the scoring with 2:41 left in the game.
Sophomore LB Marc Della Pia (West Caldwell, NJ/James Caldwell) led a spirited Blue Jay defense as he posted a team-high seven tackles. Senior CB Justin Kamm (Warren, NJ/Immaculata) and freshman LB Mike Little (Red Bank, NJ/Middletown South) both came up with interceptions for the Blue Jays, who limited the Bullets to season-lows of 63 yards rushing and 141 yards of total offense.
For the third straight game against Gettysburg, the Blue Jays pounded out over 290 yards rushing as nine different players accounted for 299 yards on the ground. Freshman Frank Fattori (Linwood, NJ/Mainland), seeing the first action of his career, accounted for one of Hopkins' other two touchdowns with a three-yard TD run in the third quarter, while sophomore QB Rob Heleniak (Philadelphia, PA/Germantown Academy) hit senior WR Sam Skinner (Little Silver, NJ/Red Bank) with a 17-yard TD pass in the final minute of the first half to account for the Blue Jays' other touchdown on the day.
The win was extra special for Johns Hopkins head coach Jim Margraff as he moved into a tie for third place on the all-time Centennial Conference coaching victories list. He now sports a 38-25-2 (.600) record in Centennial games, which ties him with former Dickinson coach Ed Sweeney for third on the all-time list. In addition, Margraff has now guided the Blue Jays to 54 wins in his nine-plus seasons. In the 16 seasons prior to Margraff's arrival at Johns Hopkins, the Blue Jays won a total of just 54 games.
The Blue Jays will look to remain in contention for the Centennial Conference title on Friday night, October 8 when they host Ursinus in a key league battle at 7:00 pm. The Bears defeated Swarthmore, 59-0 on Saturday.
