Sept. 24, 2012
BALTIMORE, MD -- Johns Hopkins moved up one spot to 15th in this week's American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division III Poll and five spots from 24th to 19th in the latest d3football.com Poll. The Blue Jays earned 436 points to move from 16th to 15th in the AFCA Poll, while they totaled 155 points to make the move into the top 20 of the d3football.com Poll for the first time this season.
The AFCA Poll, which the Johns Hopkins Athletic Communications Office uses to reflect JHU's official national ranking, is headed again this week by Mount Union, which grabbed 41 of 42 first-place votes and totaled 1,049 points. Mary Hardin-Baylor earned the remaining first-place vote and checks in at number two in the poll with 1,007 points, while St. Thomas (942 points), Linfield (918) and Wisconsin-Whitewater (828) round out the top five.
Johns Hopkins (4-0, 3-0 Centennial) ran its regular season winning streak to 18 games and its Centennial Conference winning streak to 16 games with a 33-21 win at Muhlenberg last Saturday. The Blue Jays have now been ranked in the top 25 by the AFCA for 12 consecutive weeks dating back to the start of the 2011 season and this is the 11th straight poll in which the Blue Jays have been ranked in the top 20. This is also the 30th time Johns Hopkins has been ranked in the top 25 by the AFCA since 1999, when it first released its rankings.
Mount Union also tops the d3football.com Poll as the Purple Raiders grabbed 23 of 25 first-place votes and 6 points. Mary Hardin-Baylor grabbed the other two first-place votes and 598 points to check in at number two, while Linfield (561), Wisconsin-Whitewater (538) and St. Thomas (532) are also in the top five. This week's #19 ranking marks the 23rd time Johns Hopkins has been ranked in the top 25 by d3football.com since its poll debuted in 2003.
Johns Hopkins will host Juniata on Saturday at Homewood Field. Kickoff is set for noon.
AFCA Division III Coaches Poll (9-24-2012)
1. Mount Union (OH) (41) (3-0/1,049 points)
2. Mary Hardin-Baylor (TX) (1) (3-0/1,007)
3. St. Thomas (MN) (3-0/942)
4. Linfield (OR) (3-0/918)
5. Wisconsin-Whitewater (2-1/838)
6. Wesley (DE) (3-1/795)
7. Bethel (MN) (3-0/757)
8. St. John Fisher (NY) (4-0/734)
9. Baldwin-Wallace (OH) (3-0/647)
10. Hobart (NY) (4-0/596)
11. Salisbury (MD) (2-1/584)
12. Wisconsin-Platteville (3-0/480)
13. Birmingham-Southern (AL) (4-0/474)
14. North Central (IL) (2-1/470)
15. Johns Hopkins (4-0/436)
16. Illinois Wesleyan (3-0/411)
17. Cal Lutheran (1-1/381)
18. Widener (PA) (4-0/345)
19. Wisconsin-Oshkosh (3-0/293)
20. Wabash (IN) (2-1/238)
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