Nov. 8, 2008

Box Score

LANCASTER, PA - Sophomore A.J. Albert intercepted a two-point pass attempt by host Franklin & Marshall with 29 seconds remaining and then made a game-ending tackle after the Diplomats recovered an onsides kick as Johns Hopkins pulled out a 26-25 victory at Sponaugle Williamson Field Saturday afternoon. The win is the fourth straight for the Blue Jays, who improve to 7-2 overall and 5-2 in the Centennial Conference with their sixth straight win at F&M. The Diplomats slip to 4-5 overall and 3-4 in the Centennial. The 26 points the Blue Jays scored Saturday were twice as many as the Diplomats had allowed in their first four home games combined this season.

The first 30 minutes solved nothing as the teams were deadlocked 13-13 at intermission. After the teams traded punts to open the second half, the Blue Jay defense came up with the second of its two interceptions in the game as senior Paul Fields picked off a John Harrison pass at the Hopkins 30. Johns Hopkins then pieced together a nifty 12-play, 70-yard scoring drive that took nearly five minutes off the clock.

Hopkins converted a pair of third downs on the scoring drive, including a third-and-10 from the F&M 37 as freshman Hewitt Tomlin hit sophomore Tucker Michels with a 23-yard pass to the Diplomat 14. A pair of Andrew Kase runs and a pass interference penalty set the Blue Jays up with first-and-goal at the three and Kase took it in two plays later to give the Blue Jays a 20-13 lead.

The seven-point lead held until early in the fourth quarter, when the Diplomats capped a nine-play, 54-yard drive with a 14-yard touchdown run by Mark Mellinger on a quarterback keeper. Franklnin & Marshall, which had a first-half extra point blocked, went for the two-point conversion and Harrison's pass into the middle of the end zone was tipped away by freshman Kale Sweeney. That play would prove to be pivotal 10 minutes later as the Blue Jays now held a 20-19 lead.

Hopkins answered Mellinger's run with a quick 64-yard scoring drive that was highlighted by a 38-yard pass from Tomlin to Michels on second-and-15 from the Blue Jay 43. Freshman Tyler Porco took over at quarterback after the completion and sandwiched 13 rushing yards around a six-yard run by Kase and then tossed the first touchdown pass of his career - a six-yarder to Michels in the corner of the end zone on a fade pattern- to give the Blue Jays a 26-19 lead with 8:55 remaining.

The Diplomats, as they had all day, answered. Harrison directed a 17-play, 80-yard drive that took all but the final 29 seconds off the clock and hit Jay Ridinger with a two-yard scoring play on fourth-and-goal to pull the Diplomats within one at 26-25. Franklin & Marshall converted three third-downs on the drive, which was kept alive after a personal foul against the Blue Jays after they had sacked Harrison on a fourth-down play near midfield.

F&M head coach John Troxell went for the win after Ridinger's touchdown reception, but Harrison's pass into the middle of the end zone was intercepted by Albert to maintain the one-point lead for the Blue Jays.

Still, the Diplomats had one more chance to win as they recovered the ensuing onsides kick at their own 45-yard line with 27 seconds remaining in regulation. A 14-yard pass to Ryan Murray gave F&M the ball at the Blue Jay 41-yard line, but an incomplete pass and a one-yard completion to Murray followed and Albert stopped Murray inbounds and the clock expired before the Diplomats could get off another play.

The exciting finish was hard to picture in the first quarter as the nearly 14 minutes passed before either team threatened to score. Then, the two teams needed just three minutes to combine for 20 points as the Blue Jays sandwiched a pair of touchdowns around a Franklin & Marshall score. Amazingly, the 13 points Johns Hopkins scored in that three-minute span matched the total number of points the Diplomats had given up in their four previous home games combined this season.

Hopkins took over at its own 39-yard line after an F&M punt and needed six plays to go 61 yards for the game's first touchdown. A 22-yard pass from Tomlin to Kase after a double reverse got the drive started and Tomlin connected with classmate Sam Wernick on a 29-yard pass two plays later to set the Blue Jays up at the F&M eight-yard line. Kase carried the ball three straight times and scored from the one to give the Blue Jays a 7-0 lead.

The Diplomats needed just three plays and 47 seconds to go 59 yards and draw even as Harrison found Jarrell Diggs behind the secondary from 55 yards out to make it 7-7 with 14:23 remaining in the second quarter. The Blue Jays answered quickly as Tomlin hit Michels with a 48-yard touchdown pass just over two minutes after Diggs' scoring reception to give Hopkins a 13-7 lead. The extra point failed - the first of five failed extra-point or two-point attempts in the game,

Hopkins nearly carried the six-point lead into halftime, but Harrison directed a 10-play, 47-yard drive in the final four minutes of the second quarter and capped the drive with a seven-yard pass to Matt Jenschke with 29 seconds remaining in the half. F&M's second-half extra-point decisions were set in place here as Glenn Rocca blocked Chris Minck's conversion attempt to account for the 13-13 tie at the half.

Michels paced the Blue Jays offensively as he had eight receptions for a career-high 133 yards and the two touchdowns, while Tomlin was 14-of-24 for 210 yards with the one touchdown pass. Tomlin's 210 yards improve his season total to 1,801, the sixth-highest single-season total in school history.

Kase had his school-record streak of 100-yard rushing games snapped at six, but still tied a school record in the victory. His two touchdowns on the day improve his overall total to 14 on the year, which ties the JHU single-season record accomplished twice previously (Joe Cowan-1967, Paul Weiss-1968). His 85 yards on the day also improved his career total to 2,555 and he jumped into fourth place on JHU's career rushing list.

Harrison was 23-of-34 for 207 yards with the three touchdowns and two interceptions. George Eager had a team-high five receptions for 56 yards and John Kaschak rushed 13 times for a team-high 47 yards. Mellinger provided a solid running threat from the quarterback spot as he totaled 42 yards with the one touchdown on nine carries.

Sweeney led the Blue Jays defensively as he totaled a career-high 10 tackles, including three for losses and two sacks, and had one pass breakup and the breakup on the two-point conversion early in the fourth quarter. Senior Chris Baldwin (11 tackles) and freshman Tyler Brown (nine tackles, including two for losses) also helped pace a defense that totaled three sacks and two interceptions and held the Diplomats to 97 rushing yards on 39 attempts.

Johns Hopkins will close the 2008 regular season next Saturday at home against McDaniel. The Diplomats will be at Gettysburg next Saturday.

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