BALTIMORE – The Franklin & Marshall football team faced a tough test on the road Saturday as it traveled to Baltimore for a battle with No. 14 Johns Hopkins. That game marked the first contest for the team at Homewood Field since a 20-17 victory during the 2019 season.

The rematch at Homewood went to the Blue Jays by a 66-10 score as Danny Wolf set a Blue Jays' record with five touchdowns on the afternoon. The Diplomats went into the half down just 23-10, but the Blue Jays scored six touchdowns during the final 30 minutes to pull away with the Centennial Conference victory.

First Quarter (Johns Hopkins 13, F&M 0)

The nationally-ranked Blue Jays jumped out to a quick lead in the first quarter as they turned an interception on the first drive of the game into a touchdown drive before an extended touchdown drive later in the quarter. That made the score 13-0 after just over 11 minutes into the contest before the Diplomats seemingly started to gain their footing on the road.

Second Quarter (Johns Hopkins 23, F&M 10)

Following a 54-yard punt from Jack Rodenberger, the Diplomats forced JHU into a three-and-out at the start of the second quarter behind some tough run defense which helped flip the field. Taking over at the JHU 41 yard line, Ben Moir caught a pair of passes while Drew Benfatti made his return to the lineup and caught a pass for 15 more yards down to the Blue Jays' nine. Rodenberger finished what he started with a 22-yard field goal. Nevertheless, the hosts capitalized on another Diplomat turnover to make it 20-3.

Franklin & Marshall's big play of the opening half came when Jacob Hille blocked a Johns Hopkins punt which was recovered in the end zone by Ryan McArthur for F&M's lone touchdown of the afternoon. That made the score 20-10 with just 1:21 to play in the opening half. However, with the use of a couple timeouts the hosts were able to go 61 yards in just 1:17 before the half and kick a field goal for a 23-10 lead at the break.

Third Quarter (Johns Hopkins 52, F&M 10)
All of F&M's momentum that seemed to building throughout the second quarter turned completely in Johns Hopkins' favor during the third as the Blue Jays scored on all four of their drives during the third quarter.

Fourth Quarter (Johns Hopkins 66, F&M 10)
The Diplomats halted Johns Hopkins' drive deep in F&M territory to start the fourth quarter as Zhymir Ball forced a fumble which was recovered by Matt Scully in the endzone for a touchback. However, the Blue Jays defense continued to control the tempo and eventually as JHU went on to score touchdowns on its next two drives for the eventual final from Baltimore. 

Notable Statistics

Franklin & Marshall held Johns Hopkins to 217 yards of offense during the first half, but the second half scoring outburst resulted in 635 total yards of total offense for Johns Hopkins as the Blue Jays finished with 410 through the air and 225 more on the ground.

Offensively, three quarterbacks saw playing time as Jakob Hoffman and Daniel Surtz both made their collegiate debuts. That trio completed passes to six different Diplomats, led by a three reception, 22-yard game from Ben Moir. Matt Scully returned six kickoffs for 130 yards, averaging 21.7 yards per return on special teams.

Luke Strauss led Franklin & Marshall's defense with nine tackles, including one sack, which went for an 11-yard loss. Zhymir Ball also had a strong game with eight tackles while forcing the aforementioned fumble. Kevonte Beard also had one sack as he finished with two of his three tackles behind the line of scrimmage. 

Up Next

The Diplomats will have a full two weeks to prepare for Juniata as the Centennial Conference bye week is looming next weekend. When the Diplomats return to action they will do so inside Shadek Stadium as October 16 will mark TrueBlue Weekend for all of Franklin & Marshall's athletic programs. Kickoff with Juniata is slated for 1 p.m.