Senior safety Chris Baldwin set a Johns Hopkins record with three defensive touchdowns in Saturday's 34-3 win over St. Lawrence.

Sept. 6, 2008

BALTIMORE, MD - Johns Hopkins senior safety Chris Baldwin (Southampton, NJ/Bishop Eustace) set a school record with three defensive touchdowns to lead the Blue Jays to a 34-3 victory over visiting St. Lawrence at rain-soaked Homewood Field Saturday afternoon. Baldwin took a pair of interceptions back for touchdowns and also returned a fumble for a score as the Blue Jays won their season-opener for the 10th time in the last 12 years. The three defensive touchdowns are believed to be a Centennial Conference record as well.

The Blue Jays opened the scoring just under nine minutes into the game as junior running back Andrew Kase (Wyomissing, PA/Wyomissing) raced 14 yards up the middle for a touchdown two plays after junior linebacker Colin Wixted (Lafayette, Hill, PA/St. Joe's Prep) came up with an interception of St. Lawrence quarterback Michael Baraldi (Chelmsford, MA/Chelmsford). The interception by Wixted was the second of three for the Blue Jays in the opening quarter with Baldwin starting his personal showcase later in the first period.

The teams traded possessions after Kase's touchdown and St. Lawrence moved the ball out to their own 40-yard line before Baraldi was intercepted by Baldwin at the Saint 45 and he raced untouched into the end zone for the first of his three scores. Facing a third-and-four, Baraldi used a quick three-step drop, but Baldwin jumped the route by the slot receiver and scored easily with 2:04 remaining in the first quarter.

It took exactly one more offensive play for Baldwin to make it two touchdowns on the day as sophomore Brian Pascal (Edison, NJ/Edison) forced a fumble on St. Lawrence's first play on its ensuing possession and Baldwin scooped up the loose ball and raced down the sideline for his second score of the day with 1:45 to play in the opening period. The first quarter would end with St. Lawrence holding advantages in time of possession (9:36 - 5:24) and total offense (65 - 37), yet the Blue Jays led 21-0.

Tropical Storm Hanna kicked in heavily in the second quarter with neither team able to generate much offense in the strong wind and heavy rain. A 31-yard field goal by Matt Popov (Syracuse, NY/Onondaga Central) accounted for the only points of the period, although the Blue Jays came close to adding a special teams touchdown on the final play of the period. Popov lined up for a 46-yard field goal attempt with less than 10 seconds remaining in the half, but Johns Hopkins senior Paul Fields (Washington, PA/Washington) raced around the edge and cleanly blocked the ball back towards midfield. Sophomore Mike Todisco (Towaco, NJ/Montville) couldn't quite scoop the ball cleanly with no one around him and fell on the ball as the period expired.

St. Lawrence had the ball inside the Blue Jay 20-yard line on its first two possessions of the third quarter, but Popov misfired on a 30-yard field goal attempt on the first possession and the Saints turned the ball over on downs to kill the next drive.

A great play on special teams led to the first of two touchdowns in a 17-second span early in the fourth quarter for the Blue Jays. One play after sophomore Tucker Michels (Allendale, NJ/Northern Highlands) returned a punt 43 yards to the St. Lawrence 26-yard line, junior Michael Murray (Ijamsville, MD/Urbana) hit freshman Sam Wernick with a 26-yard touchdown pass to make it 28-3. On the first play of St. Lawrence's ensuing possession, Balwin stepped in front of a receiver along the sideline and intercepted a Mike Wayne (Fairport, NY/Fairport) pass that he returned 28 yards for his third and final touchdown of the game.

Baldwin enjoyed one of the finest games by a defensive player in school history. In addition to his three touchdowns, he also tied his career-high with 10 tackles, forced one fumble and had one tackle for a loss. Wixted posted a team-high 11 tackles to go along with his interception. The seven turnovers are the most forced by Johns Hopkins since the Blue Jays forced seven in a 27-7 win over then 15th-ranked McDaniel on November 16, 2002. Kase paced the Blue Jay offense with 66 yards rushing the one touchdown.

Statistically, the Saints had the better of the play as they out-gained the Blue Jays 296-113. Baraladi and Wayne combined to go 14-of-40 for 205 yards with five interceptions between them. Michael Bruno (Westport, CT/Staples) paced the Saints' defense with 11 tackles, while Gerard Bryant (White Plains, NY/White Plains) posted 10 tackles, including 3.5 for losses.

Johns Hopkins will hit the road next Saturday when the Blue Jays play at Randolph-Macon. The Yellow Jackets dropped a 34-13 decision at King's (PA) earlier today. St. Lawrence will host Norwich next Saturday.

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