BALTIMORE, Md. - The visiting Western Connecticut State University Wolves closed out its historic 2023 season with a 62-20 loss to the Johns Hopkins University Blue Jays in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Football Championship Tournament at Homewood Field this afternoon.  WestConn, making its fourth appearance in the NCAA Tournament and its first since 2001, finishes with a 7-3 record with its first loss in seven games.  The No. 7-ranked Blue Jays improve to 11-0 and will face Union College in the NCAA Second Round next weekend.  Freshman WR Dae'Shawn Allen (White Plains, N.Y.) had seven catches for 259 yards and two touchdowns for the Wolves.

The WestConn defense started strong, forcing a three-and-out on the first Johns Hopkins drive thanks to a breakup by sophomore CB Milleeq Green (Bridgeport, Conn.) on third down.  The Wolves capitalized, as junior QB Keion Jones (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) completed passes for first downs to senior WR Julian Ferguson (Enfield, Conn.) and senior TE Alexandre Gonzalez (Waterbury, Conn.) to push the ball to the Blue Jay 10-yard line.  Johns Hopkins stopped WestConn from getting into the end zone, however, and the Wolves settled for a 25-yard field goal by Anthony Weidtman (Nesconset, N.Y.) for a 3-0 lead 2:31 into the game.

Johns Hopkins answered and scored moments later on a six-yard run by junior QB Bay Harvey, but Weidtman connected on another field goal, this one from 22 yards out after a WR screen pass from Jones to Allen that went for 35 yards to the Blue Jay eight-yard line.  Johns Hopkins, which gained 288 yards on the ground in the first half, took a 14-6 lead on a 10-yard run by Geoff Schroeder with 2:17 left in the first quarter, but the Wolves came right back again on a 73-yard scoring strike on 3rd-and-10 from Jones to Allen down the left sideline to make the score, 14-13, at the first break.

Johns Hopkins used a 27-point second quarter to head into halftime with a 41-20 lead.  Harvey and Schroeder scored again and Andrew Rich scored twice for the Blue Jays in the quarter.  Jones connected with Allen on a 74-yard scoring pass for the Wolves to cut the visitors' deficit to 28-20 with 4:47 on the clock, but a Blue Jay interception by Zach Alligood helped Johns Hopkins build its advantage back up before the end if the half.  Allen finished the first half with five catches for 204 yards, while Spencer Uggla had 122 rushing yards for Johns Hopkins at intermission.

In the third quarter, the Blue Jays scored twice early to go ahead, 55-20, but WestConn junior Michael Rollo (Massapequa, N.Y.) recovered a muffed punt to give the Wolves good field position midway through the frame.  WestConn advanced into Blue Jay territory but Jones' 4th-down pass down the right sideline to Markus Faucett (Bronx, N.Y.) did not connect.  The Bluejays added one more touchdown in the third frame, but Wolves senior DB Dalton Modehn (Haddam, Conn.) prevented another in the fourth with an interception at the goal line.  

Jones finished with 355 yards passing on 16 completions and ran for a team-high 44 more, while senior WR Julian Ferguson (Enfield, Conn.) had 59 receiving yards for the Wolves.  Johns Hopkins finished with 454 rushing yards, including 216 by Uggla and 100 by Schroeder, and possessed the ball for over 37 minutes.  Harvey threw for 252 yards and Cole Crotty had a team-high 95 receiving yards.  Defensively, Raquell Davis (Mastic Beach, N.Y.) paced the Wolves with 11 tackles (seven solo), while senior S DeShaun Hardy-Walker (Newark, N.J.) had nine tackles and one for a loss.  Jake Spivak had a team-high seven tackles for the Blue Jays.

Release courtesy of WestConn Sports Information