BALTIMORE — Despite shutting out Johns Hopkins in the entirety of the second half, UMHB Football’s magical playoff run came to a close in a 17-10 loss on Saturday afternoon in the national quarterfinals.
Under clear skies at Homewood Field, Johns Hopkins found an early offensive rhythm, and jumped out to a 17-0 lead by the 7:21 mark of the second quarter. JHU QB James Rinello completed 11 of his first 14 passes for 208 yards, providing the Blue Jays with an early cushion that held until the game’s conclusion.
Once both sides settled in, the expected physical, defensive battle ensued, with a combined three points scored over the final two quarters. UMHB cut the deficit to seven on Edwin Lopez’s 30-yard field goal with 3:21 left in the third quarter, but it was simply too much ground to make up against the nation’s No. 1 red zone defense.
UMHB ends its 2024 campaign with a 9-4 record, having reached the quarterfinals for the third time in the last four seasons. JHU will face Mount Union in a semifinal next Saturday.
The game’s deciding point
With the clock winding down and trailing by seven late in the fourth quarter, UMHB pieced together a 12-play, 59-yard drive, marching up to the JHU 12-yard line on Jerry Day Jr.’s 10-yard reception.
But the drive stalled from there, as the Blue Jays forced back-to-back incompletions with under three minutes left. Then came consecutive sacks of UMHB QB Jake Wright, as the pocket collapsed quickly both times, leaving Wright little time to look downfield for an open receiver. The sack on 4th & 19 forced a turnover on downs, and it was the last time UMHB had possession. JHU never gave the ball back in the final two minutes, picking up a game-sealing first down on a push up the middle from Rinello.
Numbers to know
- The Blue Jays threw for a season-high 312 yards, the majority of which came over the first two quarters.
- For the first time this season, The Cru was held to an average below 1.0 yard/carry in the run game. UMHB had 30 rushing attempts with a net total of 29 yards, which was also a season-low. Asa Osbourn was the lone Crusader with more than 20 yards on the ground, picking up 31 on 15 carries.
- Both sides punted quite often, with UMHB ending eight of its 11 drives on punts, while JHU punted five times, including on three-straight possessions in the second half.
- For the fifth consecutive game, UMHB came up with both a fumble recovery and an interception, and against JHU, those forced turnovers came on back-to-back drives. Te’Ron Brown punched the ball loose from Rinello’s grip, with Durand Hill recovering midway through the third. Marcus Taylor then intercepted a pass that led to Lopez’s field goal.
- JHU averaged 5.77 yards per play compared to UMHB’s 3.95.
- On third down, UMHB was 6-of-16 compared to JHU’s 6-of-12.
Key playmakers
For JHU, tight end Will Leger proved to be a reliable target for Rinello in the pass game, pulling in a 76-yard completion to set up a field goal in the first quarter, and finishing with 139 receiving yards. Leger had six receptions and averaged 23.2 yards per catch. Defensively, Xavier Newell tallied three tackles for loss, leading JHU’s strong presence up front.
UMHB was led by multiple receivers, including TJ Rone, who had a team-high six catches and The Cru’s lone touchdown. With 36 seconds until halftime, Rone broke the shutout with a perfect slant route to the end zone, recording a five-yard TD catch for UMHB’s first points. Wright was 21-of-35 passing for 228 yards. On the defensive end, Durand Hill closed his season with yet another double-digit tackle performance, leading The Cru with 10, including a touchdown-saving tackle of Leger on the 76-yard catch in the opening quarter.
Check back on TrueToTheCru.com later today for a more in-depth postgame story on Saturday’s quarterfinal.
Defense held it! All played hard and we are proud of them.
Still a tremendous come back season! Proud of coaches, players and all other personnel!