Under the bright lights at Homewood Field, Johns Hopkins (1-2) took on the Gettysburg Bullets (1-2) in the Blue Jays' only night game of the season. This was the Centennial Conference opener for both teams, but the game was not as glimmering as the Friday night lights. Heavy rains poured down for most of the night and Gettysburg's offense ripped the Hopkins defense apart en route to a 41-10 victory.
This was the 35th meeting of Hopkins and Gettysburg since 1911, and the Jays had won 11 of the last 12 meetings before Friday's game. Gettysburg was coming off a 54-7 loss to Hampden-Sydney, whom the Jays had defeated in the first game of the season 17-16. But Gettysburg outgained Hopkins on offensive yardage 461 to 224, and Bullets quarterback Matt Flynn threw for 128 yards and rushed for 127 more as the Bullets cruised to an easy win.
After trading off the first three possessions of the game, the Bullets began to open fire. After starting a drive from their own 37-yard line, Gettysburg ran several rushing plays to get to the Hopkins 37-yard line. Flynn then completed a pass toward the sideline to Ricky Manigat, who ran it all the way to the end zone for the first score of the game, ending the Blue Jays' streak of ten consecutive games without allowing a touchdown in the first quarter.
Gettysburg managed to score either a touchdown or a field goal on their next five possessions while the Jays could get nothing going on offense. Hopkins sophomore quarterback Michael Murray, who had only two completions for four yards, was sacked twice and was intercepted before being replaced by sophomore Eric Callocchia. At that point Hopkins was behind 28-0 midway through the second quarter.
"When I got the chance to go in, I can't say I wasn't a little nervous," Callocchia said. "Being put in when we were down as much as we were is always tough, but I was also focused and prepared to do my job and run the offense."
The Blue Jays put some points on the board two possessions later. Gettysburg's punt returner fumbled the ball on the 19-yard line, giving Hopkins a great opportunity to score. However the Blue Jays couldn't push the ball into the end zone, and four plays later, freshman kicker Alex Lachman connected on a 32-yard field goal to make the score 28-3.
Gettysburg came back and kicked field goals on each of its next two possessions, bringing the lead to over 30. Things got continually worse for Hopkins. On the Jays' first play of the fourth quarter, Callocchia's pass was intercepted by Adam Fulmer at the 50-yard line.
On the very next play, Gettysburg's quarterback, Flynn, found an opening and rushed 50 yards for another touchdown, pushing the Bullets past the 40-point mark.
It was apparent by this point that Hopkins had bigger problems than just the weather, but they had few excuses considering how well Gettysburg played.
"Rain always affects a team's ability to throw deep," Callocchia said. "Obviously, both teams play in the same conditions, and they did well in the air on Friday, so we can't blame the rain for not being able to produce yards with the pass."
Hopkins was able to get on the board for the final score of the game on their next possession. Senior Phil Roberts and junior Chris Baldwin combined for 45 yards rushing, and Callocchia completed 20 yards passing, capped off with a nine-yard strike to sophomore receiver Alex Quermorllue - the first touchdown for either player in their college careers.
Roberts led the Blue Jays with 64 yards rushing on 14 carries, and senior tri-captain Corey Sattler, in his first game of the year after missing the first two with an injury, had five catches for 56 yards.
Sophomore linebacker Colin Wixted helped in the defensive effort with 14 tackles.
One observable positive for the Blue Jays was that several reserves were able to get on the field during the last few possessions. Freshman punter Max Islinger was brought into the game as quarterback and completed five passes for 63 yards, including a 30-yard pass to freshman receiver Steve Schatzman and a two-yard pass to sophomore receiver Grant Parker, the first catch for each as a Blue Jay.
"It was certainly a very welcome thing," Islinger said. "It was good for everyone and we got some game experience under our belt. You can't simulate the game tempo in practice."
The Blue Jays will host Morvian on Saturday at Homewood Field at 1 p.m.
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