In what probably will be a relief for Johns Hopkins football players and coaches, Saturday's 24-16 victory over visiting Rowan in an NCAA Division III first-round playoff game should help them forget last year's first-round exit.
The Blue Jays (11-0), ranked No. 6 nationally according to D3football.com, earned the right to face No. 9 Hobart (11-0) in the second round at noon Saturday. They also can bury the memory of a 29-24 loss to Wesley on Nov. 23, 2013.
"We just put last year behind us," junior inside linebacker Keith Corliss said. "It does hurt and it did hurt for a little bit, and it was motivation. It was always something that was in the back of your mind. You don't think about it, but it's back there, and you don't want that to happen again. Just going out there and finishing the game and playing all four quarters and playing great as a team, it was really, really positive and an awesome feeling."
The win against the Profs (7-3) improved the Blue Jays' mark in the first-round playoff games to 3-3, and senior defensive tackle Michael Rocca acknowledged that the JAys were inspired to avoid a repeat of last season's finish.
"Not that we're trying to one-up any team or things like that with last year, but in the back of your mind, you have that feeling," he said. "We're not thinking about it, but when that fourth quarter came around, you get that feeling that we're not going to let this happen again. I think we came out and fought our way through 10 games [in the regular season], and we're going to keep fighting our way as long as we can go."
Coach Jim Margraff, who pointed out that Wesley amassed 635 yards and 59 points in a loss to eventual national runner-up Mount Union, is visibly weary of any conversation about that loss to the Wolverines.
"In a lot of ways, the loss was terrible, but it was such a positive thing for our team to know that when we play hard and we play well, we can compete with the best in the country," he said. "But I've never really seen it as negatively as you've seen it."