The Johns Hopkins football team built a 17-point first-half lead on Saturday, then held on for a 17-10 victory against perennial national power Mary Hardin-Baylor on Saturday afternoon at Homewood Field.
With their 10th consecutive win, the Blue Jays (12-1) advanced to the NCAA Division III semifinals for the second time in the history of the program. Hopkins will next meet another DIII powerhouse, Mount Union, which rolled to a 38-17 win at Salisbury on Saturday, on Dec. 21. Susquehanna and North Central (Illinois) will square off in the other semifinal, with the winners meeting for the national championship on Jan. 5.
Senior quarterback James Rinello completed 21 of 29 passes for a career-best 312 yards and two second-quarter touchdowns—a 14-yard strike to Cole Crotty and a 36-yard completion to Robby Enright. View complete box score
2Q | 7:21
— Johns Hopkins Football (@JHU_Football) December 14, 2024
JHU - 17, UMHB - 0
Hopkins extends the lead with a 36-yard pass from Rinello to Enright, following a 14-yd TD pass from Rinello to Crotty.#GoHop | #PrideandPoise | #ccfb | #d3fb pic.twitter.com/DDmKt8Iwe3
JHU's defense took over from there, limiting the Crusaders (8-4) to 29 rushing yards on 30 attempts and limiting the visitors to 257 yards of total offense overall.
Trailing by a touchdown with 6:18 to play, the Cru took over at their own 12 yard-line and methodically marched to the Hopkins 12. But JHU junior Isaac Urquidi sacked quarterback Jake Wright for a 9-yard loss on third-and-10, and Wright was sacked again on the next play, this time by sophomore Will Seibert. The sack was JHU's fifth of the day. The Blue Jays took over on downs and were able to run out the clock after securing a key first down.
Tight end Will Leger had six catches for a career-high 139 yards for Hopkins, including a 76-yard reception. Five different players—Carson Bourdo, PJ Penders, Cole Peters, Matthew Konkol and Oliver Craddock—tied for the team-lead with seven tackles to pace the Blue Jays defensively.
Johns Hopkins has won its three playoff games by a combined 15 points, allowing just 33 total points during their playoff run.
