The Johns Hopkins defense snagged four second-half interceptions, and the No. 6 Blue Jays mustered just enough offense to hold off 24th-ranked Randolph-Macon 17-12 Thursday night in Ashland, Virginia, in the season-opener for both teams.
JHU won its opening game for the ninth consecutive season and ran its win streak against the Yellow Jackets to seven games. Hopkins has won 89 of its past 100 games.
The game was the first for Greg Chimera as head coach at JHU. Chimera was named head coach after Jim Margraff, who led the Blue Jays to 221 wins in 29 seasons, died suddenly on Jan. 2, weeks after guiding the Blue Jays to the NCAA Division III semifinals for the first time in school history.
Hear what head coach @Greg_Chimera had to say about earning his first win as a collegiate head coach and his team's defensive effort tonight in the season opener #GoHop #PrideandPoise pic.twitter.com/DBhxjKjcms
— JHU Football (@JHU_Football) September 6, 2019
Johns Hopkins (1-0) grabbed an early 7-0 lead on the strength of a 17-play, 86-yard first-quarter drive that took more than eight minutes off the clock. JHU converted all five of its third-down tries on the drive, including the final play, when senior quarterback David Tammaro connected with junior Stephen Gervasi in the end zone on third-and-goal from the 7-yard line. That score held up until late in the second quarter, when the Yellow Jackets got on the board with a 25-yard field goal. Complete box score
The teams traded third-quarter field goals, and Hopkins pushed its edge to 17-6 early in the fourth quarter following an interception by Ryan Weed deep in Randolph-Macon territory. The turnover led to a 4-yard TD strike from Tammaro to Harrison Wellmann with 13:06 remaining.
Randolph-Macon scored its only touchdown of the game midway through the fourth quarter, but the Yellow Jackets' final two drives ended in interceptions, one by JHU's Nick Seidel and one by Macauley Kilbane.
Johns Hopkins got 191 yards passing from Tammaro. Senior Dane Rogerson rushed for a team-high 60 yards and also had a team-best seven receptions for 51 yards.
In addition to the four interceptions, the Hopkins defense recorded a pair of sacks and held the Jackets to just 279 yards of total offense.
Johns Hopkins returns to action on Sept. 14 when its host Susquehanna at 1 p.m. at Homewood Field.
