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Born and raised in Lebanon PA. I have a wonderful wife - Diane of over 20 years! She has blessed me with 2 wonderful boys - Nick (Gettysburg College '09) and Kyle (Elizabethtown College '12). We have a black lab named Piper. I've been told I make the best grilled hot wings!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Blue Jays Fly By Bullets on Homecoming, 49-37

From the Gettysburg College Website:

Blue Jays Fly By Bullets on Homecoming, 49-37

Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Andrew Kase rushed for 173 yards and tied a school record with four touchdown runs as Johns Hopkins University spoiled Gettysburg’s homecoming, topping the Bullets 49-37 in the Centennial Conference opener for both teams Saturday afternoon at a sunny Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium.

The Blue Jays (3-0, 1-0 CC) stayed undefeated with the win while Gettysburg (0-3, 0-1 CC) lost its third straight to open the season. It was also just the second time in the last seven years that the Bullets lost their homecoming game.

Junior quarterback Matt Flynn (Northfield, N.J./Mainland Regional) threw for a career-high 337 yards and four touchdowns on 26-of-39 passing to lead the Bullets. Junior wing Ricky Manigat caught eight passes for 96 yards, both career-highs, while sophomore receiver Brian Betley (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape) had a career-high five receptions for 90 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore wing Charles Curcio (Hammonton, N.J./St. Joseph) added four catches for a career-high 86 yards and two TDs and finished with 178 all-purpose yards.

Sophomore tailback Jamel Mutunga (Bel Air, Md./Bel Air) recorded his second-straight 100-yard rushing game for the Bullets, racking up a career-high 119 yards and one touchdown on 20 carries.

Hewitt Tomlin completed 18 of 31 passes for 260 yards and a pair of touchdowns to lead the Johns Hopkins passing attack while Tucker Michels caught seven passes for 96 yards.

It was the second straight shootout for the Bullets, who lost 45-40 to Hampden-Sydney a week ago in which the team teams combined for 1,118 yards of total offense. This week, Gettysburg and the Blue Jays combined for 1,006 total yards, with the Bullets holding a 509-497 edge.

Johns Hopkins took the lead for good on a 26-yard halfback option pass from Dan Crowley to Nick Fazio with 6:26 left in the opening half, making it a 28-21 game. A 25-yard field goal from senior Josh Huson (McLean, Va./McLean) drew the Bullets to within 28-24 at the half, but the Blue Jays pulled away in the second half, scoring the first two touchdowns in the third quarter to open up an 18-point advantage Gettysburg was unable to overcome.

Although the first half was dominated by offense, it actually started with a Gettysburg goal line stand. On the opening drive, the Blue Jays marched 72 yards and set up with a first-and-goal at the Bullet-4. After a three-yard gain on second down, Hopkins had two opportunities to punch it in, but were denied on the run twice. Kase was stuffed on third down before Tomlin was stood up by a host of defenders, including senior defensive end Conor Quinn (Rockville, Md./Richard Montgomery).

An offensive display was in store for the remainder of the half. After the Bullets were forced to punt on their first possession – their only punt of the half – the Blue Jays went 75 yards on 11 yards before Kase ran it in from 2 yards out with 2:08 left in the first quarter, making it 7-0. It was only the start for Kase, who rushed for 116 of his yards in the opening half.

The Bullets answered right back, going 71 yards on six plays, with Curcio catching a pass over the middle and racing down the right sideline for a 48-yard touchdown reception.

Gettysburg took the lead when freshman Brandon Payne (New Castle, Del./William Penn) forced a fumble on the kickoff, and junior Bruce Evans (Atlantic City, N.J./Saint Augustine Prep) pounced on it at the Hopkins-22. Two plays later – the first play of the second quarter – Flynn hit Curcio in the middle of the end zone for a 22-yard scoring strike, making it 14-7.

Kase tied it up for the Blue Jays with a 5-yard touchdown run before Gettysburg went back on top when Flynn launched a 60-yard touchdown pass deep down the right side to Betley, making it 21-14 in favor of the Bullets with 12:28 left in the half. The Blue Jays came back with an 11-play, 69-yard drive that ate up 5:10, and Kase scored his third touchdown of the game from 2 yards out to make it a 21-21 game with 7:17 showing.

Johns Hopkins then capitalized on a Gettysburg turnover, recovering a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. A.J. Safi jarred the ball loose from freshman Ryan Hinton (Florham Park, N.J./Hanover Park) with a vicious hit, and Mike Todisco fell on the pigskin at the Bullet-26. Three plays later, Tomlin fired a lateral to the left flank to Crowley, who lobbed a pass the opposite way to a wide-open Fazio on the right side of the field. Fazio jogged in the final 10 yards for the score, making it 28-21 with 6:26 left in the half.

The Bullets put together a 14-play, 55-yard drive with Huson capping the march with his field goal that deflected off a defender’s fingers before bouncing off the left upright and the crossbar before falling through, making it 28-24 at the half.

Another turnover proved to be costly for the Bullets at the start of the second half. Chris Baldwin made his third interception of the season for the Blue Jays and returned it 33 yards to the Gettysburg-45. Eight plays later, Kase scored his fourth touchdown, this one from 1 yard out as Hopkins extended its lead to 35-24.

After forcing a Bullet punt, the Blue Jays went on another scoring drive, this time moving 59 yards on 10 plays before Tomlin hooked up with David Rokeach for a 16-yard touchdown pass with 3:17 left in the third quarter to make it 42-24.

Gettysburg came up with its first defensive stop of the second half early in the fourth quarter, and on the first play after a Blue Jay punt, Mutunga broke off a 38-yard rush to the Hopkins-43. Five plays later, Flynn found junior wing Michael McInerney (Hasbrouck Heights, N.J./Saint Joseph Regional) in the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown pass. Huson’s fourth PAT made it 42-31 with 12:35 left.

After forcing a second straight punt, Gettysburg took over at the Bullet-17 and marched the rest of the field on an 83-yard drive. Mutunga appeared to have run up the middle for a 17-yard touchdown run, lunging over the goal line as he was dragged down, but he was ruled down at the 1-yard line. But he bulled in for the score one play later. However, Flynn’s two-point conversion was incomplete, and Gettysburg trailed 42-37 with 7:44 to go.

The Bullets needed a stop on the Blue Jays ensuing possession, but a big 45-pass from Tomlin to Crowley put Hopkins at the Gettysburg-11. Two plays later, Tomlin gave the Jays some breathing room, connecting with Michels for a 12-yard touchdown pass down the left sideline, setting the final score with 5:22 left.

Gettysburg turned the ball over on downs on its final drive, and the Blue Jays ran out the final 1:49.

Sam Eagleson finished with a game-high 12 tackles for Johns Hopkins while senior linebacker Dean Staley (Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown) and freshman safety Joe Delaney (Voorhees, N.J./Eastern Regional) made 11 tackles apiece. Senior defensive end Josh Jerrold (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury East) also had seven tackles, including 2.0 for loss and one sack.

The Bullets return to action next Saturday, when they visit No. 6-ranked Muhlenberg College in another Centennial Conference showdown starting at 1 p.m.

Now for the Johns Hopkins perspective. The following is taken from their Website:

Kase, Tomlin Lead Hopkins Past Gettysburg, 49-37

Kase Ties JHU Record With Four Rushing Touchdowns in Victory

Box Score

GETTYSBURG, PA - It was Homecoming at Gettysburg on Saturday and the Johns Hopkins offense put on a show for the alumni as junior running back Andrew Kase (Wyomissing, PA/Wyomissing) rushed for 173 yards and tied a school record with four rushing touchdowns and freshman Hewitt Tomlin (Jackson, TN/Trinity Christian) threw for 260 yards and two more scores as the Blue Jays knocked off the Bullets, 49-37, in the Centennial Conference opener for both teams. The win improves Hopkins' record to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in the Centennial, while Gettysburg falls to 0-3 overall and 0-1 in the league. The win is the fourth straight for the Blue Jays dating back to last season.

Hopkins led 28-24 at the half and took control with back-to-back touchdowns in the third quarter. A Chris Baldwin (Southampton, NJ/Bishop Eustace) interception on Gettysburg's first drive of the second half set the Blue Jays up at the Gettysburg 45. Eight plays and a pair of third-down conversions later Kase went in from a yard out to extend the lead to 35-24. It was that touchdown that tied the JHU single-game school record for rushing touchdowns.

After forcing the Bullets to punt for the first time on their next possession, Tomlin directed a nifty 10-play, 59-yard drive that he capped with a 16-yard touchdown pass to junior David Rokeach (Colonie, Ny/Christian Brothers Academy) on a third-and-11 play. The Blue Jays converted three third-down opportunities on the drive, including a 12-yard run by Kase on a third-and-six near midfield. Rokeach's touchdown gave the Blue Jays what appeared was a comfortable 42-24 lead entering the final quarter.

The Bullets had other ideas and sliced the 18-point deficit to five with a pair of touchdowns in the first 7:16 of the fourth quarter. A 12-yard touchdown pass from Matt Flynn (Northfield, NJ/Mainland) to Mike McInerney (Hasbrouch Heights, NJ/St. Joseph) made it 42-31 with 12:35 to play and a one-yard run by Jamel Mutunga (Bel Air, MD/Bel Air) just under five minutes later made it 42-37. Flynn's pass on the two-point attempt after Mutunga's touchdown sailed out of the back of the end zone.

Needing a time-consuming drive to put the game away, the Blue Jays instead went for the knockout punch and needed just five plays to go 60 yards in 2:15 to seal their sixth win in their last seven road games. Tomlin hit sophomore Dan Crowley (Glen Rock, NJ/Glen Rock) on a 45-yard pass on the second play of the drive and hit Tucker Michels (Allendale, NJ/Northern Highlands) from 12 yards out three plays later to make it 49-37.

The frenetic pace started right away as the Blue Jays led 7-0 after Kase's two-yard touchdown run capped an 11-play, 75-yard drive late in the first quarter. That lead lasted for less than three minutes as the high-octane Bullet offense got untracked and needed just 1:53 to answer. Charles Curcio (Hammonton, NJ/St. Joseph) caught the first of his two touchdowns in a span of 26 seconds - a 48-yard screen pass from Flynn - to pull the Bullets even and added a 22-yard scoring reception two plays later after Gettysburg recovered a fumble on the kickoff after his first touchdown.

The Blue Jays scored three of the next four touchdowns to take a 28-21 lead with just over six minutes remaining in the first half. Kase, who ended the first half with 116 yards and three touchdowns, sandwiched scoring runs of five and two yards around a 60-yard touchdown pass from Flynn to Brian Betley (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) to make it 21-21 with 7:17 remaining before halftime.

Kase's second touchdown, which came on a sprint to the corner of the end zone on fourth-and-goal, capped an 11-play, 69-yard drive to knot the game.

A great open-field tackle by freshman A.J. Safi (Allentown, PA/Salisbury) on the ensuing kickoff forced a fumble that the Blue Jays came up with at the Gettysburg 26-yard line. Three plays later head coach Jim Margraff pulled out a trick play as Tomlin fired a lateral to Crowley, who in turn through all the way back across the field to a wide open Nick Fazio (McMurray, PA/Peters Township) inside the five yard line and Fazio easily scored the touchdown that gave the Blue Jays the lead for good at 28-21.

A Josh Huson (McLean, VA/McLean) 25-yard field goal with 1:12 remaining in the first half cut the deficit to 28-24 and Gettysburg had the first possession of the second half, but Baldwin's interception ignited the two-touchdown surge for the Blue Jays, who improve to 3-0 for the fifth time in seven years with the win.

Kase is the first Johns Hopkins running back to rush for four touchdowns in a game since 1990 and his 173-yard effort is the second-best of his career. He is just the fourth player to rush for four touchdowns in a game at Johns Hopkins and he jumped to 13th on JHU's career rushing list as he now has 1,653 yards in his career. Tomlin's 260 yards passing are the most by a Johns Hopkins freshman since Margraff threw for 269 against then Western Maryland in 1978. His 260 yards are the third-most ever by a Johns Hopkins freshman.

Michels had seven receptions for 96 yards and the one score, while sophomore D.J. Hartigan (Wyckoff, NJ/Ramapo) added five receptions for 53 yards. Crowley threw the one touchdown and added three receptions for 67 yards as the Blue Jays rolled up 286 yards through the air and 211 on the ground.

Flynn was 26-of-39 for a career-high 337 yards with the four touchdown passes and Mutunga added a career-high 119 yards rushing and the one touchdown to fuel a Gettysburg offense that rolled up 509 yards of total offense.

The 49-point effort is the third-highest for the Blue Jays in the 36-game series with Gettysburg and marks the third straight game JHU has scored 34 or more points. This is the first time Johns Hopkins has scored 34 or more points in three straight games since early in the 2000 season.

Johns Hopkins will return to action next Saturday when the Blue Jays play at Moravian. The Greyhounds improve to 3-0 on the year with a 23-16 win at Lebanon Valley earlier today.

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