HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The Juniata football team will have one its toughest matchups of the season when the Blue Jays of Johns Hopkins come to Goodman Field at Knox Stadium this Saturday. Kickoff will be at 1 p.m.
The Eagles are 1-3 overall and 0-3 in the Centennial Conference. They are coming off a 24-7 defeat at the hands of Franklin and Marshall on the road last week. Juniata scored first but the Diplomats put up 24 unanswered points to take the win. Hank Coyne finished 22-of-40 for 257 yards and was only sacked once. Aaron O'Brien caught six passes for 91 yards. Kirby Breault had three grabs for 34 yards. DaVon Mitchell caught two balls for 36 yards. Matt Lehr led in rushing with 26 yards on six attempts and one score. Deonte Alston ran nine times for 21 yards. On the defensive side, Ryan Bologa led all tacklers with 13 stops. John Michael Maclay added nine tackles, an interception, and a pass breakup. Nick Bonavita and Jonah Plymire both had eight total tackles with Plymire also picking up a sack.
Johns Hopkins is 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the Centennial. The Blue Jays are ranked #8 by the American Football Coaches' Association and #10 by D3Football.com. JHU faced a 28-21 deficit midway through the third quarter of their showdown with Muhlenberg and responded with a 28-0 game-ending run to fuel a 49-28 victory last Saturday. The win improved the Blue Jays' regular season winning steak to 25 games and its September winning streak to 23 games. Jon Germano threw for 189 yards and four touchdowns with three interceptions. Bradley Munday had eight receptions for 80 yards and the one score and Brandon Cherry rushed for a game-high 99 yards and one touchdown. Stuart Walters and Quinn Donaldson added the two rushing and receiving touchdowns, respectively. On the defensive side, Keonte Henson counted two sacks among his eight tackles and added two forced fumbles, while Jack Campbell paced the Blue Jays with a career-high 13 tackles. In addition, Jack Toner had seven tackles, three pass breakups, one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
This will be the 10th meeting between Juniata and Johns Hopkins with the Blue Jays holding an 8-1 advantage in the series. Hopkins has won every game since 2007. Juniata's lone victory occurred in 1929 in Baltimore, 7-0. The Blue Jays won last year in Baltimore, 56-14.
