On Saturday, Sept. 30, Rowan Football looked to end the month of September with a win inside Richard Wackar Stadium against the visiting No. 9 ranked Johns Hopkins. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be the case as the Blue Jays of Johns Hopkins would overpower the Profs by a final score of 55-20.
“They’re a different team, they have a different speed,” Head Coach Jay Accorsi said. “They had a really experienced quarterback, there were a lot of times we had the coverage, we couldn’t get to him and that led to him making a lot of plays.”
Despite the final score, Coach Accorsi was pleased with his team’s efforts, as he wanted to make it clear that the score didn’t tell the entire story of the game.
“Outside people will look at the final score and say this and that but from my perspective as a coach watching the game today, that was the best that this team has played so far this season,” Accorsi said.
Johns Hopkins quarterback Bay Harvey was able to go down the field and score on the first two drives to grab an early 14-0 lead in the first quarter. Despite the circumstance of being down early against a tougher opponent, the Profs continued to compete in this game.
Captain senior running back James Fara was the star of the game for the Profs. In the first half alone Fara had 158 yards rushing yards to go along with two touchdown runs. Fara’s first touchdown came from a 17-yard run that was set up after Eric Bryant recorded his third interception of the season.
Fara would finish his day with a career-high 203 yards on the ground, with an average of 8.8 yards per carry. This performance would give Fara his first New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Player of the Week award of the season.
Fara was also able to show off his speed when he outran the Johns Hopkins defenders for a long 74-yard run to cut the deficit to 28-13 with 5:26 left in the second quarter. This play got the crowd back into it and you could feel like momentum was shifting back to the Profs’ side.
“We always know James is capable of that,” Accorsi said. “Week two he didn’t play, and week three he really was knocking the rust off, but I believe he put it all together today and he’s back to the prime time Fara that we need.”
The energy from the crowd didn’t last long however, as the Blue Jays kick returner, PJ Scales, ran back the ensuing kickoff 92 yards to give Johns Hopkins a 35-13 lead and swing the momentum back in their favor.
Rowan was able to find the end zone one more time before the half, after a nine-play, 65-yard drive was capped off by a 15-yard touchdown pass from Thomas Goldsborough to receiver Marlon Boston, who climbed the ladder for his first score of the season.
Unfortunately for the Profs, this would be a lead that the Blue Jays would not look back from, as they shut the Profs out in the second half. The Profs defense, however, would not mirror that same performance, as the Blue Jays finished the game with two more touchdowns.
Despite the back-to-back losses at home, the players’ confidence remains unphased.
“We were winning on first and second down, we just got to stick to our assignments and come together as a team and I know we can beat our conference teams,” Bryant said.
Fara mirrored a similar response.
“The offensive line killed it today, we just need to keep working with the young guys, have good practices this week and we will be fine,” Fara said. “Even with how young we are I know we are the best team, and we have the best offense in the conference.”
The Profs will head to TCNJ on Saturday, Oct. 7, to take on the Lions for their first NJAC game of the season.
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