Hounds' Rally Falls Short at No. 11 Johns Hopkins
BALTIMORE, Md. --- The Moravian College football team entered the fourth quarter trailing No. 11 Johns Hopkins University, 29-6, but the Greyhounds would score 15 points in the final 15 minutes and have another drive stopped in the red zone by a turnover as the Blue Jays handed the Hounds a 29-21 Centennial Conference defeat in Baltimore Saturday afternoon.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
6 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 21 |
|
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3 | 10 | 16 | 0 | 29 |
Team Stats
Johns Hopkins University
| Game Statistics | Moravian University | Johns Hopkins University |
|---|---|---|
| Passing Yards | 265 | 331 |
| Rushing Yards | 167 | 97 |
| Turnovers | 4 | 3 |
| Time of Poss. | 31:40 | 28:20 |
BALTIMORE, Md. --- The Moravian College football team entered the fourth quarter trailing No. 11 Johns Hopkins University, 29-6, but the Greyhounds would score 15 points in the final 15 minutes and have another drive stopped in the red zone by a turnover as the Blue Jays handed the Hounds a 29-21 Centennial Conference defeat in Baltimore Saturday afternoon.
Moravian, now 2-1 on the year and 1-1 in Centennial Conference action, out-gained Johns Hopkins 432-428 in the game including 167 yards on the ground to just 97 for the Blue Jays but it was turnovers that made the different with the Hounds turning the ball over four times to three turnovers for JHU.
Senior quarterback Mike Hayes completed 26-of-55 passes, both career highs and a school record for attempts, for 265 yards with a touchdown and four interceptions. Junior wide receiver Justice Anderson, junior wide receiver Aaron Hudson and senior wide receiver Jalen Snyder-Scipio each caught five passes with Anderson picking up 77 yards, Hudson gaining 54 yards and Snyder-Scipio picking up 51 yards with a touchdown. Junior tight end Aaron Brown, senior wide receiver Liam Nolan and senior running back Chris Negron each caught three passes for the Greyhounds.
Negron led the rushing attack with 119 yards on 21 carries, his third straight 100-yard game this season and the 17th of his career, and he scored one touchdown to raise his school record career totals to 35 rushing touchdowns, 39 overall touchdowns and 234 points. Negron improved his career total to 3,737 yards, needing just 118 more to break Chris Jacoubs school record, and Negron did break Jacoubs' career all-purpose yardage mark on Saturday, now with 4,363 yards rushing, receiving and returns during his career. Freshman running back Roberto Diez added 40 yards on nine carries for the Greyhounds.
"We didn't win the takeaway battle in the first half with three turnovers and only one takeaway on defense," stated Head Coach Jeff Pukszyn. "When you do that against a team like Johns Hopkins, you're going to be in a hole on the scoreboard. I think in the second half we battled back and fought through the more adversity that we've seen in awhile. I'm proud of our guys for that and their 60 minutes of effort today."
The Greyhounds turned the ball over on their first two possessions as Hayes was intercepted on both drives but the Moravian defense would have its own interception on the Blue Jays' first possession as senior defensive back Noah Miller made his second interception of the season.
After the second miscue by the Hounds' offense, the defense would stand up inside the five-yard line and keep the Blue Jays to a field goal with 7:53 left in the first half.
The teams would trade punts before the Moravian offense took over at its own 36-yard line. Hayes would lead the Blue and Grey on a nine-play, 64-yard drive that gave the Greyhounds a lead. Hayes finished the drive with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Snyder-Scipio on a leaping catch in the front right corner of the end zone. Sophomore Kenny Kane missed the extra-point as the Greyhounds lead 6-3 with 1:45 left in the first quarter.
Johns Hopkins' next drive ended with a defensive stop by the Greyhounds on fourth down but Hayes would be intercepted again three plays into the Moravian possession. The Blue Jays would move 51 yards on 13 plays to take a 10-6 lead with 8:21 left in the first half.
Moravian would punt again and the Hounds defense held to force the Blue Jays to kick a field goal with 3:25 before the intermission to extend the lead 13-6. The teams would head to the locker room with the score the same.
Johns Hopkins opened the second half with a touchdown drive but Moravian senior defensive lineman John Snyder blocked the extra point to keep the JHU lead at 19-6 with 11:30 left in the third quarter. Snyder finished the game with five tackles and a pass breakup.
On the second play of Moravian's first drive in the second half, Negron burst through the left side of the line and picked up 37 yards break the all-purpose yardage record. However, the possession would end on downs.
Johns Hopkins added to its lead with a 50-yard field goal to push the advantage to 22-6 over the Greyhounds with 8:09 to play in the third quarter.
Moravian moved down into the red zone on the ensuing drive but Hayes' pass on fourth down pass attempt sailed high as he was under pressure, turning the ball back over to the Blue Jays.
The Blue Jays hit a 49-yard touchdown pass with just 35 seconds left in the third quarter to extend their lead to 29-6.
The Greyhounds answered with an 18-play, 76-yard drive that Hayes capped off with a 7-yard run on a fourth down play as he made it inside the right front pylon. Kane's extra-point cut the Hounds' deficit to 29-13 with 9:56 remaining.
Two plays into Johns Hopkins next possession, senior linebacker Edward Delia forced a fumble that junior defensive lineman Connor Rooney jumped on to give the Greyhounds the ball at the JHU 31-yard line. Delia led the Moravian defense with 14 tackles including one for loss to go with his forced fumble.
"Those takeaways and stops in the red zone by the defense were crucial," Pukszyn said. "That is an area that we needed to improve in and we did today. That is a credit to the players for the hard work they put in during the week. Against a team like Johns Hopkins, those red zone chances are usually seven points to keep them to a couple of field goals gave us a chance at the end of the game."
Moravian's offense needed just five plays to get in the end zone again with Negron scoring on a three-yard run. Hayes scrambled and found Brown in the front of the end zone for the two-point conversion that cut the Blue Jays' lead to 29-21 with 9:56 still remaining in the contest.
The Hounds' defense would get the ball back for the offense once again after three plays when senior defensive back Khalil Raymond made his first career interception to give Moravian the ball at the Hounds' own 39-yard line. However, the drive ended in a punt. Raymond had five tackles on the afternoon.
The Blue Jays would punt as well. With the Greyhounds facing a fourth down at the JHU 38-yard line, Hayes was flushed out of the pocket and heaved a pass towards Anderson, who was able to get a hand on the pass but the ball bounced up and was intercepted inside the 10-yard line. The Blue Jays would run out the clock after the turnover.
Sophomore linebacker Steve Ewald contributed eight tackles with three for loss while Miller, sophomore linebacker Owen Perih and freshman linebacker Tim Valentine each made seven tackles with Miller adding two passes defended to his interception and Perih making a tackle for loss.
Moravian is scheduled to return to action on Saturday, September 24 when the squad hosts Dickinson College in a Centennial Conference game kicking off at 1:00 p.m. at Rocco Calvo Field. Next Saturday is Family Day for Moravian.
