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OPENING KICKOFF: Today's Centennial Conference (CC) game marks the 94th meeting between McDaniel (0-9, 0-8 CC) and Johns Hopkins (9-0, 8-0 CC) in a series that dates back to 1894. The Blue Jays lead the all-time series 53-35-5, including wins in the last 14 meetings. The Green Terror's last win in the series came by a 41-7 margin in 2000. Today's game marks the 68th consecutive season when the two long-time rivals have been scheduled to be the final game on each other's schedules.
WHEN LAST WE MET: Johns Hopkins, ranked seventh by d3football.com at the time, jumped out to a 21-0 lead en route to a 48-17 victory over McDaniel to close the 2014 regular season. Matty Callahan (Germantown, Md./Northwest) led the Green Terror, establishing a career best with 99 yards rushing to go with his 111 yards passing. Braden Anderson threw for 165 yards and two touchdowns to pace the Blue Jays, who wrapped up their fourth straight outright conference title.
LAST TIME OUT: Susquehanna jumped out to a 24-0 lead en route to a 44-15 win over McDaniel last Saturday. Mike Oliveto (Robesonia, Pa./Conrad Weiser) led the Green Terror with six catches to tie Matt Cahill's program record at 156 career receptions. Oliveto amassed 31 yards to give him 1,879 receiving yards for his career. Nick Crusco led the Crusaders with 365 yards passing, completing 33 of 48 passes with three touchdowns. He also ran 10 times for 71 yards.
WITH HONORS: Mike Oliveto and Luke Fernandez (Manchester, Md./Manchester Valley) were named to their respective CC Weekly Honor Rolls last week. Oliveto was named to the offensive list after catching six passes to tie the program record for career receptions. Fernandez earned a spot on the defensive ledger after recording 12 tackles and an interception.
LEADING THE WAY: Riley Johnson (Round Hill, Va./Woodgrove), Brandon Jones (Middle River, Md./Eastern Tech), Mike Oliveto (Robesonia, Pa./Conrad Weiser) and Matt Quattrone (Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle Area) will captain the squad in 2015. This is the third straight year Oliveto has served as a captain while Jones is a two-time captain.
THANK YOU, SENIORS!: Today marks the final game for as many as 18 McDaniel seniors. Of those 18 players, no fewer than three have been a starter on offense this season while four others have started on defense. Two others have significant roles in the kicking game.
SACK LUNCH: Through nine games this season, McDaniel leads the conference with 29 sacks. The 29 sacks this season is the most by the Green Terror as a team in a single season since recording 32 in 2009. Prior to last week, McDaniel had gotten to the quarterback multiple times in each of the first eight games, including two five-sack games. Fifteen different players have been a part of at least one sack so far this season. Andy Ullmann (Toms River, N.J./Monsignor Donovan) leads the way with 6.0 sacks while Raymond Doh (Silver Spring, Md./Blake) has been responsible for 5.5 this season.
PROTECT THIS HOUSE: For the third time in the last four games, the Green Terror offensive line did not allowed a sack. Since allowing four sacks in the season opener, McDaniel has not allowed more than two in any game this season. The eight sacks allowed in conference play is also tops in the CC. Johns Hopkins ranks second, allowing nine this year.
LUKE IS THE FATHER: Senior DB Luke Fernandez recorded a career-high 12 tackles last week. He is currently second on the team with 61 tackles for the year, including 38 solo stops. He also picked off his second pass of the season last week. He was the first Green Terror player to record multiple interceptions this season. He also recorded his team-best fifth pass breakup of the year.
WANNA BE LIKE MIKE: Mike Oliveto enters today's game needing just 121 yards to become the fifth player in program history to record 2,000 yards receiving for his career. With 156 career receptions, he tied Matt Cahill's program record and will sit alone atop the record book with his first catch today. This year, Oliveto is averaging 52.8 yards per game and has five career 100-yard receiving outings.
KICKIN' IT: Spencer Wiersburg (Salisbury, Md./J.M. Bennett) made his sixth field-goal attempt last Saturday. He is the only Division III kicker who is still perfect on the season. It was the sophomore's 10th collegiate field goal in 10 tries. Saturday's field goal was the longest of his career at 35 yards.
SPREAD THE LOVE: The Green Terror threw for 244 yards last week but no player had more than 41 yards receiving. Will Koester found 10 different receivers among his 25 completions. Mike Oliveto had a team-high six grabs while no other player had more than three. It marked the second straight week that no Green Terror receiver had more than 52 yards receiving and Koester found nine or more receivers.
TERROR TIDBITS: Will Koester has thrown for 886 yards this season and has three 200-yard passing games in his four starts this year… Luke Fernandez's interception last week was the first turnover the defense had forced in the second half of the season… Bamasa Bailor's (Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle Area) third-quarter touchdown was his first collegiate score. He was the eighth different receiver to catch a touchdown pass this year.
COACHES' CORNER: Mike Hoyt is in his fourth season at the helm of the Green Terror with an overall record of 3-36, picking up his first win on Sept. 14, 2013 – a 21-14 victory over Moravian. In 2015, he serves as defensive coordinator for the first time at McDaniel. He spent the previous eight seasons as the defensive coordinator, culminating with being a finalist for the American Football Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year award in 2011. In his first season at Albright, his defense went from allowing an average of 235.4 yards per game to 175.1 yards per contest, helping to guide Albright to an ECAC South Atlantic championship. His tenure as defensive coordinator was marked specifically by stout run defense, ranking in the top half of the Middle Atlantic Conference in rush defense, total defense and scoring defense in four of his last five seasons. His 2008 defense led the conference and ranked 33rd nationally, allowing just 16.9 points per games and appeared in the ECAC South Central Bowl… Jim Margraff is in his 26th season at Johns Hopkins. The all-time winngingest coach in program history, he has compiled a record of 187-83-3 in his tenure with the Blue Jays. After earning a share of three consecutive conference titles, Margraff led Johns Hopkins to its first outright claim to the title and NCAA tournament bid in 2005 and once again took the outright crown in 2009 and advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals. In 2010, the squad once again shared the CC title before taking the outright title again in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. The Blue Jays have also claimed four ECAC titles in his tenure. Margraff is also the state of Maryland's all-time wins leader when he picked up career win No. 175 last season.
THE WORD ON JOHNS HOPKINS: The Blue Jays enter today's game off a 45-24 win over Franklin & Marshall to secure at least a share of their seventh straight CC title. Johns Hopkins has also already secured the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and can claim its fifth straight outright title with a win today... The Blue Jays enter today's game with a 30-game regular-season winning streak, matching the Green Terror's conference record from 1997-99… Jonathan Germano threw for 304 yards last week, completing 19 of 27 passes… Stuart Walters led the rushing attack with 146 yards on 10 carries. He also scored three touchdowns… Eight different Blue Jays have thrown a pass this season. Germano is completing 71.8 percent of his passes for 2,215 yards and 25 touchdowns. The completion percentage, yards and touchdowns are all best in the CC… Brandon Cherry and Walters lead the rushing attack with 1,408 of the team's 2,180 yards on the ground. Cherry has 713 yards and eight touchdowns while Walters has 695 yards and 12 scores… Bradley Munday is tops in the receiving corps with 63 catches for 816 yards. He also has a team-best nine touchdowns, which is best among all conference receivers… The Johns Hopkins secondary has 18 interceptions this season led by Jack Toler's five. He also has seven more pass breakups.
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