(Carlisle, Pa.) – The Dickinson football team had a strong start on homecoming, hosting #18-ranked Johns Hopkins on a beautiful afternoon on Saturday. The Blue Jays came away with a 37-15 win but the was much closer than the score would indicate.

The Red Devils stalled an early drive by the Blue Jays as Anthony Cicini (Berwick, Pa./Berwick) forced a fumble and Jordan Hollander (Dalton, Pa./Abington Heights) recovered on the Dickinson seven-yard line.

The Blue Jays struck with a 40-yard strike from David Tammaro to Ryan Hubley at the 12:13 mark of the second quarter. Hopkins blocked a field-goal and set up on the Dickinson eight-yard line on the next possession. The defense made a huge stand to force a field-goal keeping the deficit at 10-0.

Junior quarterback Tim Graham (Darien, Conn./Darien) worked the Red Devils down the field with some timely passes to Daniel Salamone (Great Falls, Va./Langley) and Christopher Longo (Ridgefield, Conn./Ridgefield) and capped the drive with a 33-yard score to Longo with 4:34 remaining in the half.

The Blue Jays countered with a 95-yard kick-off return, stretching the margin to 17-6 and tacked on a late touchdown to lead 23-6 at the break. They would score on the first drive of second, putting together an eight play, 65-yard drive to start the half.

Hollander boomed a 57-yard punt and with the help of a penalty, pinned the Blue Jays on their own eight-yard line.

The Red Devil defense held and a bad snap on the punt attempt went out of the end zone for a safety.

Junior Robert Geiss (Malvern, Pa./Great Valley) led Dickinson on a scoring drive to open the fourth quarter. He broke for a 37-yard run and connecting with Salamone for a 22-yard touchdown to cut the margin to 30-15.

The Red Devils came up with a big block on a field-goal attempt as Quizzon Tarver (Baltimore, Md./St. Paul's School) came away with the ball to set the Red Devils up on their 25-yard line.

The Blue Jays would add another score as Tammaro found Jabob Yohr for a 31-yard score in the final minutes.

Junior linebacker Brian Snow (Media, Pa./Episcopal) had another strong performance, reaching double-figures with 11 tackles. Sam Mueller (Reading, Pa./Governor Mifflin) tallied six stops while Taj DeFrance (Glassboro, N.J./Glassboro) and Hollander each had five.

Hollander was right at his average, netting 40 yards per punt to go with his fumble recovery.

Geiss ran for 100 yards but lost 10 to net 90 on the afternoon, adding 84 yards passing. Graham went 10-for-24, throwing for 168 yards.

Longo and Salamone finished with 86 and 80 yards receiving, respectively, each finding the end zone.

Total offense for the game was relatively close as Hopkins covered 482 yards while Dickinson produced 393 on the day.

The Red Devils slip to 2-2 overall and 1-2 in the Centennial Conference. They travel to Susquehanna next Saturday for a 6:00 pm kick-off.