HUNTINGDON, Pa.- Juniata faced #8 Johns Hopkins at a cold and damp Goodman Field at Knox Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Blue Jays got out to a 24-0 lead and won by the score of 41-5. JHU remains undefeated at 5-0 overall and 4-0 in the Centennial Conference. The Eagles drop to 1-4 overall and 0-4 in the conference.
Juniata got on the scoreboard in the most unusual way midway through the second quarter. The defense forced the first three and out by Hopkins. The snap to Blue Jay punter Brandon Hong went over his head and he tracked it to the back of the endzone where it was downed for a safety to make the score 24-2. The Eagles could not capitalize as they were stopped on the ensuing possession and punted the ball away.
The defense came up with another big stop to force another Hopkins punt. Juniata began its drive at its own 16. The Eagles began to show some life on offense as quarterback Hank Coyne (Royersford, Pa./Spring-Ford HS) completed passes of 12 and seven yards to Hunter Phillips (Funkstown, MD/South Hagerstown HS) to get to the Eagle 35. Juniata began to move to midfield and got the Blue Jay 46 after a David Vidovic (Hohenfels, Germany/Hohenfels) five-yard run. On first down, Coyne's pass to Phillips was incomplete but a pass interference call on Hopkins' Michael Munday gave JC a first down at the JHU 31. A 12-yard completion to Phillips moved the ball to the Blue Jay 19. Another pass interference on Munday now put the ball at the four-yard line. The Eagles drive would be thwarted as Juniata settled for a Kevin Bonalle (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) 21-yard field goal to make the score 24-5 in favor of the visitors.
With just under a minute left until halftime, the Blue Jays looked to add another score. With possession at its own 49, JHU drove down to the JC 15. From there, quarterback Jon Germano called his own number and ran in for the touchdown with eight seconds remaining in the quarter and the score stood at 31-5 at the half.
The third quarter was scoreless as both defenses stood firm. The Eagles got deep into Blue Jay territory on its first possession of the period as they got to the JHU 28. On fourth and 21, Coyne found Phillips for a 15-yard gain that fell short of the first down and gave the ball back to Johns Hopkins.
In the fourth quarter, the Blue Jays kept the ball on the ground for the majority of final stanza. The Blue and Gold defense held Hopkins to 10 points with the touchdown not coming until just over two minutes remained in the game. Coach Tim Launtz was pleased with how his defense performed in the second half overall and saw it as a real positive going forward in the second half of the season. "I'm very proud of our football team in that we played physically, we played aggressive, and we didn't quit," he said. "Our kids didn't back down and that's the big thing."
Coyne finished with 128 yards passing and was only sacked one time. Phillips caught a season-high six passes for 59 yards. Kirby Breault (Ellizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown Area) added three catches for 48 yards. Vidovic led in rushing with 45 yards on 13 attempts.
Defensively, Ryan Bologa (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone HS) led the way with 14 tackles and also picked up a sack. Demetrius Floyd (Coraopolis, Md./West Allegheny) added 12 stops with Jake Diviney (Altoona, Pa./Altoona Area HS), Plymire, and Donovan Cobb (Aliquippa, Pa./Aliquippa) chipping in seven.
Juniata is off next weekend. The Eagles return to the gridiron on October 17 when they travel to Collegeville to take on Ursinus. Kickoff from Patterson Field will be at 12 p.m.
