CARLISLE, Pa. - The Dickinson football team began Saturday afternoon strong as the Red and White put the visiting No. 18 Johns Hopkins in a 10-0 hole in the first. However, after that it was all Blue Jays as the away side outscored the Devils 28-0 over the final two quarters to leave Biddle Field with a 35-13 Centennial Conference win.
The Dickinson defense forced a three-and-out on the opening Hopkins drive sparked by an eight-yard sack on third by
Dante Barnett. A 31-yard punt from Joe Zahner setup Dickinson right at midfield on their first possession. Unfortunately, three consecutive incompletions out of the hands of
Rocco DiRico resulted in a punt for
Matt Maiona that hit the endzone. Once again DC was up to the task as Ryan Stevens missed his man on third down to force another punt to the DC46. On the ensuing Devils drive they relied on what they have all season as the combination of
Diante Ball,
Princeton Douglass, and DiRico rushed eight times for 39 yards ending with a 20-yard house call by Ball (
Matt Moroz kick) made it 7-0. The Red and White were also helped out on the drive by a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty on a 3rd-and-14. The Blue Jays would not touch the ball on the ensuing kickoff as Moroz lifted the ball over the upmen and short of the deep returner allowing
George Thorp to hustle down and recover what ended up being a long onside kick putting the Devils in business at the JHU24. Rushes by Ball and DiRico, followed by a five-yard pass to Ball brought up fourth down on the JHU17. Moroz stepped up and banged through a 34-yard kick for the 10-0 edge. The Jays would use a nice balance of runs from Geoff Schroeder and passes by Stevens to advance from the JHU37 to the DC29. Danny Wolf would take a second down carry all the way to paydirt (Zahner kick) trimming the margin to 10-7 after one.
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Dickinson continued to lean heavily on the run game early in the second with Ball and Douglass bringing to the DC38 bringing up third-and-four. DiRico would attempt to find Douglass, but he was spun around by Ross Andersson resulting in a pass interference call advancing the ball to the 46. Two more carries by Ball was not enough to keep the driving going as DiRico was sacked once and threw an incompletion leading to a punt from Maiona to the JHU6. The Devils defense was lockdown again on the Hopkins drive as
Tanner Long stopped Wolf for no gain, while
Anton Jacobs tossed Stevens for a loss of five forcing another punt only out to the JHU37. DiRico began the possession with a bang as he ran off the right-side for 20, before Douglass carried for four to the 13. However, DC was unable to find the endzone as Moroz drilled a 32-yard kick for the 13-7 advantage with 6:36 to go in the half. Over the remainder of the half neither side was able to cross midfield allowing Dickinson to hold onto the 13-7 lead at the break.Â
The Red and White started the third with the ball and began on their own 24. After a five-yard rush by Ball, DiRico hooked up with
Johnny Knight for 16 up to the DC45. However, a sack, an incompletion, and a Ball carry for no gain meant another Maiona punt. Hopkins took their first possession of the period and used five straight runs between Stevens and Wolf to move out to the DC45. Then, Stevens went to air finding Artie Collins and Emmett Turner, before hitting Josh Polce for an eight-yard score (Zahner kick) to take their first lead at 14-13. Dickinson was unable to do much with their next drive as ten-yard pass from DiRico to Ball was not enough to keep things going as the Jays took over on their own 44. A 21-yard strike from Stevens to Polce, followed by a 21-yard rush by Wolf setup first down on the DC12. Spencer Uggla would do it on the ground on the next play as he took it home from 12 (Zahner kick) stretched the lead to 21-13 through three.Â
To start the fourth the Jays were back on the ball and with two rushes by Wolf had it up to the DC49. Stevens found Turner for 15 through the air, before linking up with Quinn Revere for a 34-yard TD pass (Zahner kick) pushing the advantage out to 28-13. The ensuing kickoff from Bay Harvey went out-of-bounds to put Dickinson in business on their own 35. Ball ran for five and then DiRico took off for 11 to advance to midfield. Two completions to Ball made it fourth-and-one on the Hopkins 40. Unfortunately, the handoff to Ball went for no gain allowing the visitors to take over on downs with five minutes gone. Four straight runs put the ball on the DC45. Stevens then took command through the air hooking up with Collins, Revere, and Turner making it first-and-goal on the one. Stevens would find a new target in Andrew Sheahan for a one-yard score (Zahner kick) to set the 35-13 final.Â
Up Next
Dickinson (3-6, 3-5 Centennial) will finish up the season next Saturday in Collegeville when they take on Ursinus College at 1pm. Â
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