DOYLESTOWN (PA) – Delaware Valley College capitalized on a key Johns Hopkins University turnover early in the third quarter and pulled away late for a 23-7 win over the visiting Blue Jays in the season opener for both squads.
It was the first-ever meeting between the two schools and both were selected to win their respective conferences (the Middle Atlantic Conference for Delaware Valley and the Centennial Conference for Johns Hopkins) in the preseason coaches' polls.
With the game tied at 7-7 early in the third quarter, the Blue Jay defense forced a three-and-out and Johns Hopkins was poised to get great field position, but Corey Heard's punt was mishandled by Tucker Michels and recovered by the Aggies' Chad Peterman at the Blue Jay 42-yard line. Two plays later, Delaware Valley quarterback Mike Isgro fired a strike to Peterman inside the five-yard line and he eased into the end zone. A low snap on forced a two-point conversion attempt and it failed. However, the Aggies had a 13-7 lead with 9:16 remaining in the third and it was a lead that they would never relinquish.
Johns Hopkins had several chances later in the third quarter and early in the fourth, but the Delaware Valley defense stiffened each time. The Aggies finally put the game away as a 12-play, 67-yard drive culminated in a Jake Sobchak field goal with 3:51 remaining. The Blue Jays turned the ball on down on its own 44 and, with Delaware Valley trying to run out the clock, Isaiah Hall scored on ab eight-yard touchdown run by Isaiah Hall with 71 seconds remaining.
Johns Hopkins drove the length of the field on the closing drive of the game before fumbling the ball away inside the Aggie 10-yard line as time expired.
The first 30 minutes solved nothing as the teams went to the half tied at 7-7 and the total yardage was nearly even. The Aggies struck first when Isgro connected with Butch Whiteside on a 25-yard scoring play with 2:16 to go in the first quarter. Whiteside broke free just past the line of scrimmage and Isgro hit him in stride at the five-yard line to cap a nine-play, 72-yard drive.
The Blue Jays answered seven minutes later as they took over at midfield and quarterback Hewitt Tomlin fired a 46-yard strike to Dan Crowley on first down to set the Blue Jays up inside the Aggie five-yard line. Three plays later, Tomlin and the Blue Jays ran a perfect screen to the short-side of the field and senior Andrew Kase eased his way into the end zone to tie the game.
Both teams had scoring chances later in the second quarter, but junior Mike Mahon intercepted an Isgro pass in the end zone to kill a Delaware Valley scoring drive. The Blue Jays promptly moved the ball from their 20 to the Aggie 31 in the final minutes of the half, but junior Alex Lachman was just short from 48 yards out with less than 20 seconds remaining to account for the 7-7 tie at intermission. It remained that way until the Blue Jay turnover and ensuing touchdown by Peterman in third.
The top running back on each squad reached personal milestones on the afternoon. Delaware Valley junior Matt Cook carried the ball 28 times for 98 yards and became just the fifth player in Aggies history to go over the 2,000-yard mark (2,017) in a career. Kase, a senior and Johns Hopkins' all-time leading rusher, netted 63 yards on 19 carries and topped the 3,000-yard mark for his career.
Delaware Valley outgained Johns Hopkins, 353-289, and limited the Blue Jays to just 128 yards in the second half with most of that damage occurring on the final drive of the game. Isgro completed 12 of 25 passes for 183 yards and two scores while Peterman hauled in three passes for 65 yards and a touchdown. Defensively, Ryan McCullough paced the Aggies with 10 tackles while preseason All-American Kyle Gesswein and fellow linebacker Chris James had nine stops apiece with Gesswein also adding a sack.
Hewitt was 25-for-38 for 208 yards and one touchdown for the Blue Jays. Crowley led all receivers with six grabs for 93 yards. Ryan Piatek led the defensive charge with 14 tackles while Tyler Brown added eight.
