NCAA Bracket
Release courtesy of Johns Hopkins Athletic Communications
BALTIMORE, MD – Visiting Salisbury needed exactly one play and 10 seconds to grab an early 7-0 lead against Johns Hopkins in Saturday's NCAA Round of 16 playoff game at Homewood Field. Those seven points were one more than the Blue Jay defense would allow over the final 59-plus minutes and the Johns Hopkins offense struck a nearly perfect balance once again in what became a 45-13 victory that propels JHU into the NCAA Quarterfinals for the third consecutive year.
With the win, Johns Hopkins moves to 11-1 on the year and sets up a quarterfinal matchup against Susquehanna, which topped Eastern, 29-0, in another third-round game on Saturday. Salisbury finishes the season at 10-2 with today's loss. The time and location of the Johns Hopkins-Susquehanna game will be announced by the NCAA later on Saturday or on Sunday.
The Sea Gulls wasted no time jumping on the Blue Jays as quarterback SyRus McGowan found Micah Brubaker a step behind the Blue Jay secondary on the first play of the game to stake Salisbury to the early seven-point lead.
Johns Hopkins would answer with an 11-play, 78-yard drive that quarterback Bay Harvey extended with a 19-yard completion to Geoff Schroeder on fourth-and-five from the Sea Gull 45 and later capped with a three-yard run up the middle. In a sign of things to come, the drive took nearly seven minutes off the clock (6:51).
The Sea Gulls would move inside the Blue Jay five-yard line three times over the following quarter-and-a-half, but twice the Blue Jay defense forced short field goals and once they forced a turnover on downs.
While the Johns Hopkins defense was bending but not breaking, the Blue Jay offense was busy doing its part to build a 24-13 halftime lead.
After taking over at its own two-yard line after Jack Schondelmayer stopped Dario Belizaire on fourth down, Johns Hopkins used 10 plays to go 98 yards and ate 5:40 off the clock before Harvey scampered in from 26 yards out to give the Blue Jays a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter; the Blue Jays were forced to convert just once on third down on the drive with a four-yard Harvey run converting a third-and-three at the SU 46.
After Salisbury got a 20-yard Tyler Smack field goal to trim the deficit to 14-10 midway through the quarter, the Blue Jays wrapped a 26-yard Harvey-to-Cole Crotty touchdown pass and a 26-yard Kaleb Wayt field on the final play of the first half around another Smack field goal to account for a 24-13 halftime score.
Both defenses stiffened in the third quarter, although both teams had a chance to score in the first 10 minutes of the period. Salisbury turned it over on downs again after a McGowan pass into the end zone on fourth down was incomplete early in the period and the Blue Jays missed a 32-yard field goal midway through the quarter.
The Blue Jays would extend the lead to three scores late in quarter when they pieced together their fourth touchdown drive of 70 or more yards with a six-play, 73-yard drive that Schroeder capped with a two-yard touchdown run with 1:57 on the third-quarter clock.
Johns Hopkins would put the game away with a pair of fourth-quarter Harvey touchdown passes. He helped turn the second of Carson Bourdo's two interceptions into a 28-yard scoring strike to Josh Moore and later added a 13-yarder to Chad Martini that polished off a 13-play, 83-yard drive; the first 70 of those 83 yards on the drive came on the ground courtesy of Ty Pugliano and Brock Dandridge.
Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
• Harvey had a hand in five of Johns Hopkins's six touchdowns as he was 18-of-29 for 276 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 96 yards and the two scores.
• Schroeder (116 yards) and Pugliano (63) helped power a Blue Jay rushing attack that accounted for 287 yards, the third-best total in JHU post-season history.
• Crotty (7-98-1), Martini (3-81-1) and Moore (4-54-1) were Harvey's favorite targets in the passing game.
• Bourdo had five tackles, including one for a loss, the two interceptions and one pass breakup to help lead a Blue Jay defense that held the Sea Gulls more than 35 points below their season scoring average of 48.2
• Schondelmayer led the Blue Jay defense with seven tackles, including the big first-quarter stop of Belizaire, and added one pass breakup on the day.
Inside the Box Score – Salisbury
• McGowan was 3-of-10 passing for 117 yards and the one touchdown to Brubaker and he added 44 yards on nine carries before exiting the game in the third quarter.
• Mason Fisher led the Salisbury rushing attack with 84 yards on just five carries and four other players, including McGowan, rushed for more than 22 yards as the Sea Gulls totaled 236 yards on the ground; the 236 yards were nearly 80 below their season average of 315.9 entering the game (3rd nationally).
• Kilo Mack (13 tackles) and Patrick Sheil (10) led the way defensively for Salisbury.
Notes of Interest
• Johns Hopkins is now 17-13 all-time in the NCAA Playoffs, including 5-1 under head coach Dan Wodicka.
• The Blue Jays advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the third consecutive year and the fifth time in program history. Johns Hopkins and North Central are the only two teams in the nation that will be appearing in the quarterfinals for the third consecutive year.
• Crotty's 98 yards pushed him past 3,000 receiving yards for his career. He now has 3,085 yards to his credit.
• Havery's five touchdowns on the day give him 101 touchdowns responsible for in his career (77 passing / 24 rushing). Only David Tammaro (2016-19) has accounted for more touchdowns that Harvey in Johns Hopkins history (105).
• Salisbury entered the game ranked in the top 12 by both the AFCA (9th) and D3football.com (12th). The Sea Gulls are the fifth nationally-ranked team Johns Hopkins has beaten this season.
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