Box Score
BALTIMORE,
Md. – George Merrell threw a pair of
touchdowns to Brian Wolcott and 15th-ranked
Johns Hopkins stifled the Centennial Conference’s (CC)
top scoring offense in a 27-7 victory over Gettysburg in
CC football action on Friday.
Wolcott scored on fourth-quarter touchdown receptions
of 74 and 7 yards to seal the Blue Jays’ ninth consecutive
victory over the Bullets (4-2, 1-1 CC). Adam Cook
carried a team-high 23 times for 93 yards and one touchdown
as Johns Hopkins (7-0, 3-0 CC) extended its program-record
winning streak to 11 games and improved to 7-0 for the first
time since 1892.
Blue Jay safety Matt Campbell recovered
a fumble and made his CC-leading seventh interception, helping
the JHU defense slow a Gettysburg attack that had averaged nearly 30 points per game in
its first five contests. The Blue Jays have allowed only
37 points in their first seven games this season.
Bullet quarterback Joe Gossweiler
(Florham
Park,
NJ/Hanover Park) completed
10 of 26 passes for 155 yards and also ran for his team’s
lone touchdown with 1:49 remaining. Gettysburg was held to a season-low 315 yards of total offense,
80 of which came on the team’s scoring drive in the
final minutes.
In a battle of conference unbeatens,
JHU turned in another standout defensive performance to
maintain sole possession of first place in the CC standings.
Following a scoreless first quarter, Johns Hopkins turned
to Cook to get on the board. Behind seven straight Cook
rushes, the Blue Jays marched from their 48 to the Bullet
21 before a pass interference call set up the home squad
with a first-and-goal at the Gettysburg 6. Cook got the call three more times, scoring from
one yard out on his final attempt to make it 7-0 with 11:43
left in the first half.
Johns Hopkins needed only two plays to notch its second
score midway through the second quarter. Starting at the
JHU 46, Merrell found Anthony Triplin
on a 15-yard pass and Mark Nesbitt followed
with a 39-yard touchdown run, giving the Blue Jays a 13-0
lead heading into halftime.
With its offense unable to build on the 13-point cushion,
Johns Hopkins halted Gettysburg in its own territory on the Bullets’ three third-quarter
drives before Merrell and Wolcott sealed the win.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Merrell found
Wolcott on a 74-yard strike down the middle of the field
to extend the lead to 20-0 with 14:50 remaining. Merrell and Wolcott hooked up on a 7-yard
scoring play to cap the Blue Jays’ final scoring drive,
an eight-play, 41-yard march that made it 27-0 with 5:04
left. Nesbitt keyed the drive with five carries for 23 of
his 92 yards.
Gettysburg denied Johns Hopkins its fourth shutout of the season
with a 12-play, 80-yard scoring drive in the final minutes.
Gossweiler made five of his 10
completions for 72 yards on the march, finding the end zone
on a five-yard run with 1:49
remaining to set the final score.
The Bullets’ best push into Blue Jay territory before
the final quarter came on their first drive of the game.
Gettysburg marched to the JHU 17 on its opening 12 plays, but Johns
Hopkins recovered an errant Gossweiler
pitch at its own 35 to end the threat. The Bullets managed
just two more forays into opposing territory before their
lone scoring drive.
Merrell finished 6-of-15 for 116 yards and two touchdowns
while being intercepted three times. Gettysburg’s Mark Johnson (Corona, CA/Acad. of the New Church [PA])
made two of the picks while Jay Cage (Magnolia, NJ/Sterling) recorded
his first collegiate interception in the losing effort.
Grant Acker (Howell, NJ/Peddie) led the Bullets with a career-high 16 tackles, his fifth
consecutive game with at least 10 stops.
Adam Luke
paced the Blue Jays with 12 tackles.
Gettysburg returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 25 at Ursinus. Game time is 1 p.m.
-30-
