BALTIMORE, Md. --- Sophomore quarterback Mike Hayes threw for a touchdown and ran for another, and junior defensive back Jimmy McCarthy became the school record holder in career kickoff return yardage as the Moravian College football team dropped its first road game of the year, falling to No. 14 Johns Hopkins University, 33-14, in Centennial Conference action at Homewood Field Saturday.
Hayes completed 18-of-31 passes for 138 yards with a six-yard touchdown to sophomore wide receiver Jalen Snyder-Scipio with 6:58 left in the first quarter to give the Hounds a 7-3 lead. Hayes, who was also intercepted three times, finished the scoring on a two-yard touchdown run with 15 seconds to play, and he ran for a total of 51 yards on 12 attempts.
McCarthy returned the second kickoff of the game 36 yards to midfield to raise his career total to 1,344 yards, breaking the record of Travis King '13, and the return would set up the Greyhounds' first scoring drive. McCarthy, who returned four kickoffs for 89 yards to go with an interception, one pass break-up and seven tackles, now has a school-record 1,397 career kickoff return yards on 65 returns, which is tied for first with King.
Moravian, now 2-1 on the season, had 311 yards of total offense with freshman running back Eli Redmond leading the rushing attack with 73 yards on 13 carries while sophomore running back Chris Negron added 43 yards on 15 attempts to move into a tie for 17th in school history with Joe Tegan '12 at 1,264 career yards. Snyder-Scipio caught five passes for 76 yards including his touchdown while senior wide receiver Sam Boyer pulled in five passes for 36 yards and sophomore wide receiver Liam Nolan had three receptions for 14 yards.
Senior linebacker Kevin Bracken led the Moravian defense with a game-high 13 tackles including a tackle for loss while junior linebacker Brendan Downey had 10 tackles including one for loss and an interception. Sophomore cornerback Noah Miller and senior safety Ricky Sinnig each made eight stops while sophomore defensive lineman John Snyder had seven tackles and a forced fumble.
"I thought our guys played hard but we had too many costly penalties in the third quarter, and you can't do that against a team like Johns Hopkins," stated Head Coach Jeff Pukszyn.
Braden Anderson completed 25-of-34 passes for 218 yards to lead the Johns Hopkins (3-0) offense, and he added 38 yards and a touchdown on five carries while being intercepted twice. Stuart Walkers ran for 81 yards on 23 carries while Dionisio Roman added 41 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 14 carries. Quinn Donaldson caught eight passes for 90 yards while Ryan Finkel grabbed five passes for 32 yards.
Michael Longo and Jack Toner each had seven tackles to lead the Blue Jays' defense with Longo making of the team's three sacks while Toner had an interception and a pass break-up in the game.
Moravian received the opening kickoff, and the Hounds pick up a first down before a punt. The Greyhounds defense would tighten inside the 10-yard line and forced the Blue Jays to settle for a 24-yard Nick Campbell field goal and a 3-0 lead at the 8:56 mark of the first quarter.
After McCarthy's record-breaking kickoff return, Hayes directed a six-play, 50-yard scoring drive, finding Snyder-Scipio for the touchdown and a lead with 6:58 to play in the first quarter. Junior Cedar McCredie made the extra-point for the Greyhounds.
The Blue Jays would answer with a 13-play, 69-yard drive to retake the lead, 10-6, on a touchdown by Roman.
The Greyhounds were unable to move the ball on their next possession and would punt. Johns Hopkins moved into the red zone again before Walters fumbled the ball and Moravian senior defensive back Chris McGrath covered the loose ball at the Greyhounds' nine-yard line.
The teams traded punts before Toner intercepted a Hayes pass and returned it to the Moravian 12-yard line. Two plays later, Roman scored again but the Blue Jays missed the extra-point for a 16-7 lead, which would be the score at halftime. The next time JHU had the ball; Downey ended the drive with his second interception of the year.
On the opening possession of the second half, Johns Hopkins was driving the ball before McCarthy stepped in front of an Anderson pass for his second interception of the season.
The Greyhounds moved into the red zone after the turnover but ended up turning the ball over on downs. JHU answered with a 16-play, 84-yard drive to score on an Anderson rush.
After the Blue Jays connected on a field goal with 4:45 to play, Moravian put together a 12-play, 67-yard drive to score on Hayes' first career rushing touchdown, and McCredie's extra-point set the final score at 33-14.
Moravian will return to action on Saturday, September 27 when the Greyhounds welcome Dickinson College to Rocco Calvo Field for a 1:00 p.m. Centennial Conference game.
