September 11, 2010
Randolph-Macon's Last-Minute Touchdown Beats Johns Hopkins, 41-37
ASHLAND, VA – Randolph-Macon quarterback Austin Faulkner directed a seven-play, 84-yard drive in the last two minutes and capped what proved to be the game-winning drive with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Michael Atkinson with 28 seconds remaining to lift the Yellow Jackets to a thrilling 41-37 win over visiting Johns Hopkins at Day Field Saturday afternoon. The 'Jackets improve to 2-0 on the year, while the Blue Jays fall to 0-1.
In a wild game that featured nearly 1,000 yards of total
offense, the Blue Jays took a 37-34 lead with 7:23 remaining on a
64-yard touchdown pass from junior Hewitt Tomlin
to classmate Sam Wernick. Wernick's
touchdown reception came 62 seconds after Randolph-Macon had taken
a 34-30 lead on a 27-yard screen pass from Faulkner to running back
Thaddeus Scruggs.
The Blue Jay defense forced a quick punt on the drive after
Wernick's score and moved the ball from inside their own 10-yard
line to the Yellow Jacket 41. Faced with a fourth-and two and
with 1:50 on the clock, the Blue Jays punted the 'Jackets deep in
their own end. From there, Faulker took over as he completed
6-of-7 attempts in efficiently moving Randolph-Macon into scoring
position. His pass to Atkinson capped the 84-yard
drive. Tomlin's first pass on JHU's last drive was
intercepted and the 'Jackets ran out the final 23 seconds.
For the third consecutive trip to Randolph-Macon, the Blue
Jays found themselves in an early hole as the Yellow Jackets built
a 13-0 lead before the game was 14 minutes old. A pair of
field goals from Josh Sturm (44, 30) and a 44-yard
run by Scruggs accounted for the 13 points for RMC, which led by
identical 14-0 scores on JHU's trips to Ashland in 2006 and
2008.
The Blue Jays answered Scruggs' scoring run with an 11-play,
57-yard drive that was capped by one-yard touchdown run by junior
Nick Fazio. Fazio's scoring run came on
fourth-and-goal from the one yard line and was the second fourth
down conversion on the drive for the Blue Jays, who got a 26-yard
completion from Tomlin to senior Tucker Michels on
fourth-and-two from the 'Jacket 30 four plays before Fazio found
the end zone.
Randolph-Macon's 13-7 lead held until the final two minutes of
the first half, when both teams found the end zone to account for a
20-14 Yellow Jacket lead at the half.
Faulkner polished off a methodical 10-play, 80-yard drive that
ate 4:22 off the clock with an 11-yard scoring toss to Luke
Sellers, who got free on an out pattern in the corner of
the end zone.
A 27-yard return on the ensuing kickoff by Scotty
Barletta gave the Blue Jays possession at the
Randolph-Macon 48 with 1:44 remaining and the Blue Jays needed just
1:14 to find the end zone. A 39-yard completion from Tomlin
to sophomore Scott Cremens on third-and-nine from
the 'Jacket 47 gave the Blue Jays a first-and-goal at the
eight-yard line and Tomlin scored on a quarterback keeper three
plays later to make it 20-14 at the half.
The Blue Jays took their first lead of the game (27-20) on
scoring runs of four and 48 yards from sophomore Jonathan
Rigaud midway through the third quarter, but Scruggs
answered with a 56-yard touchdown run of his own to account for a
27-27 score entering the final period.
A 37-yard field goal by Alex Lachman gave JHU
a 30-27 lead on the second play of the final period. That set
the stage for the wild last nine minutes, which saw Faulker
sandwich his scoring tosses to Scruggs and Atkinson around Tomlin's
strike to Wernick.
Tomlin threw for 384 yards and the one touchdown while also
rushing for the one score. The 384 yards are the
second-highest total of Tomlin's career and third best total in
school history. Cremens had seven receptions for 125 yards,
while Wernick totaled 231 all-purpose yards with 123 receiving
yards and 108 yards on five kickoff returns. Rigaud added 88
yards rushing and the two touchdowns in his first career start at
running back.
Faulkner threw for 302 yards and three scores against two
interceptions. Senior Earl Peoples had a
game-high 12 receptions for 139 yards and Scruggs totaled 190 yards
and two scores on the ground and added the 27-yard touchdown
reception as well.
Johns Hopkins will return to action next Saturday at
Gettysburg as the Blue Jays open Centennial Conference play against
the Bullets.
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