Nov. 15, 2003

Box Score

BALTIMORE, Md. -- Senior quarterback George Merrell (Bloomsburg, PA/Central Columbia) threw for a career-high 236 yards and the Johns Hopkins defense held McDaniel to nine first downs and 197 yards of total offense as the Johns Hopkins football team closed the regular-season with a not-as-close-as-the-score-might-indicate 17-3 win over the Green Terror. The win, Hopkins' school-record-tying ninth of the season, gives the Blue Jays a share of the Centennial Conference title for the second straight season. The Blue Jays (9-1) will find out Sunday afternoon if their 9-1 record is enough to warrant an at-large selection to the NCAA Division III Playoffs, while McDaniel ends the season at 5-5. Muhlenberg, which finished with a 7-2 overall record and tied the Blue Jays with a 5-1 mark in league play, will receive the CC's automatic bid to the NCAA Playoffs by virtue of its 14-6 win over Hopkins.

Hopkins took the lead for good just 5:59 into the game when junior fullback Nate Readal (Allison Park, PA/Hampton) capped a quick, four-play, 20-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run to give the Blue Jays a 7-0 lead. The drive was set up when sophomore defensive lineman Alan Cody (North Bergen, NJ/St. Peter's Prep) forced a fumble by McDaniel quarterback Brad Baer that senior Colin Slemenda (Beaver, PA/Beaver Area) recovered at the MC 20. A 15-yard Merrell-to-Jason Lehman (Manheim, PA/Manheim Central) completion on third-and-six gave the Blue Jays the ball at the Green Terror one-yard line and Readal went over one play later to give JHU the lead.

Despite two other trips inside the McDaniel 30-yard line in the first quarter, the Blue Jays carried just the 7-0 lead into the second quarter as a pair of fumbles ended scoring threats. A 21-yard field goal by McDaniel's Nate Getchall, which capped an 11-play, 76-yard drive, pulled the Terror within 7-3 with just under 13 minutes remaining in the second quarter, but Hopkins struck twice in the final three minutes of the period to take what proved to be an insurmountable 17-3 lead at halftime.

Senior Chris Smolyn (Randolph, NJ/Lenape Valley) hit a 35-yard field goal with 2:29 remaining in the first half and Merrell scored on a one-yard run with 32 seconds left in the second quarter to give the Blue Jays the 14-point halftime lead. Merrell's touchdown run was set up by a Matt Campbell (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough) interception. Campbell picked off a Baer pass at the McDaniel 47-yard line and returned it 20 yards to the MC 27. The interception was Campbell's eighth of the season, which ties the JHU single-season record.

The second half saw the Blue Jay defense at its best as the unit forced McDaniel to punt twice and turn the ball over on downs twice. Getchall also missed a 40-yard field goal attempt in the third quarter. The three points are the fewest McDaniel has scored since Johns Hopkins beat then Western Maryland, 13-3 in the 1996 regular-season finale for both teams. That was also the last time the Green Terror failed to score a touchdown.

Merrell was 18-of-28 for the 236 yards and had the one rushing touchdown. Junior Adam Cook (New Freedom, PA/Susquehannock) rushed for 64 yards on 17 carries and now has 984 on the year, the second-highest single-season total in school history. He also moved into fifth-place on JHU's all-time rushing list as he now has 1,991 career rushing yards. Junior WR Brian Wolcott (Harding, PA/Wyoming Area) had a game-high five receptions for 102 yards, while Lehman had four receptions for 76 yards.

The Johns Hopkins defense, which has allowed a total of just 64 points in 10 games, was led by Cody, Max Whitacre (Sugarloaf, PA/Bishop Hafey), Peter Botsolas (Nutley, NJ/St. Peter's Prep) and Adam Luke (Teague, TX/Teague), who all registered six tackles in the win. Campbell added five tackles to go along with his interception.

Senior RB French Pope rushed for 56 yards and Baer added 52 yards on the ground, but Baer and Dalys Talley were a combined 6-of-17 for 44 yards with the one interception through the air against the nation's top-ranked pass efficiency defense. Botsolas and Slemenda each picked up a sack as well.

If Johns Hopkins fails to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Playoffs, the Blue Jays have positioned themselves to receive a second straight bid to the ECAC Playoffs. Last season, Hopkins picked up a 24-21 win over Frostburg State in the ECAC Southwest Championship Game. That game was the first playoff game in school history. The NCAA Playoff bracket will be announced at 1:00 pm on Sunday afternoon on ESPN News, while pairings for next week's ECAC bowls will be announced on Monday.

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