Thursday, October 3, 2024

Captains Fall in Defensive Struggle to 7th-ranked Johns Hopkins, 14-3, in Football Home Opener

(CNU Athletics)

NEWPORT NEWS — Christopher Newport University fell to 1-1 to open the season Saturday, dropping a 14-3 decision to 7th-ranked Johns Hopkins University at TowneBank Stadium. The Captains, who scored 42 points in a season-opening road victory over Trine University last Saturday in Indiana, were held to just a first half field goal in their home opener by the Blue Jays, who improved to 2-0.

A Family Weekend crowd of 4,752 watched the defensive struggle produce just 324 total yards, with only 144 coming from the Captains. Christopher Newport saw both its first and second-string quarterbacks leave the game due to injuries in the opening half.

“I was overall really happy with the way our defense played tonight,” Head Coach Paul Crowley said. “Johns Hopkins is obviously a top program, and I thought we defended at a high level. Losing two quarterbacks certainly wasn’t ideal, but fortunately both injuries don’t look like anything that will cause prolonged absences.”

Starting quarterback, fifth-year senior Matt Dzierski, and his backup, sophomore Connor Barry, both had their nights cut short after suffering first half injuries, with Dzierski returning only briefly after the intermission. Sophomore Tahir Johnson was called on to lead the offense for most of the second half.

“I thought Tahir Johnson did some really good things,” Crowley continued. “He stepped in and played hard in a tough situation…he showed some great promise.”

The Captains only score of the game came in the second quarter on a 40-yard field goal from sophomore Maxx Lawton. Both Johns Hopkins touchdowns were the result of passes from senior quarterback Bay Harvey to senior wide receiver PJ Scales. The first, in the opening minute of the second quarter, came on a 28-yard scoring play. The duo connected again with 1:08 to play in the third quarter, this time on a 20-yard pass and run. The second touchdown was the result of a Blue Jays interception that gave them the ball at CNU’s 22 yard line.

Harvey finished the game 12-of-22 for 120 yards and the two scores for the Jays, but faced relentless pressure from the Captains. CNU’s defense sacked Harvey six times, with junior linebacker Masi Bruning contributing two sacks as well as a team-high 11 tackles. Sophomore rover Noah Martin registered ten stops and senior linebacker Andrew Worsham posted nine tackles and a sack. Christopher Newport’s defense has logged ten sacks over the first two games.

CNU and Johns Hopkins met for the first time last year, with the Blue Jays holding off the Captains, 20-14, in Baltimore. The Blue Jays went on to a 12-1 record last season and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament.

Saturday’s crowd of 4, 752 was the largest home crowd for the Captains since 6,148 watched the Captains beat Catholic, 38-7, at TowneBank Stadium on September 24, 2022. Christopher Newport now will look to bounce back as the Captains travel to Pennsylvania next Saturday, September 21st, to play Gettysburg College. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. Gettysburg also fell to 1-1 on Saturday, losing on a last-second field goal at Montclair State, 27-26.

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