Box Score  | Game Notes

Faced with fourth-and-2 at its own 3-yard line, the 24th-ranked John Carroll University football team was in danger of giving up its first points in the first half this season. Mitch Krotz and David Porter made sure that did not happen.

The ball-hawking duo stuffed Capital quarterback Chase Longwell for no gain keeping the Crusaders off the scoreboard and leading the Blue Streaks to back-to-back shutouts for the first time since 2006.

Backed by two 1-play drives the Blue Streaks dominated the overwhelmed Crusaders 54-0 in their first game as a ranked team since 2007 to improve to 4-0, 3-0.

John Carroll rolled from the opening kickoff. Mark Myers found Marshall Howell for a 30-yard gain on the first play from scrimmage. However, the drive stalled when Myers' pass was intercepted five plays later, but the nation's No. 3 defense had its quarterback's back.

Longwell fumbled his first snap which sent the Crusader offense reeling from the start. Three plays later Jake Mooney and Jared Donovan cashed in on a bad snap on Capital's punt attempt for the Blue Streaks' first safety since 2011. Donovan added a blocked punt in the second quarter.

Linebacker Matt Feeney intercepted two Longwell pass attempts, one more catch than the Crusaders had as a team. The Capital quarterbacks finished 1-of-10 for 12 yards.

"It really was an outstanding effort by them," said head coach Tom Arth. "It's a very difficult team and scheme to prepare for. It's unlike anything we've seen and really able to replicate in practice. For them to really understand our plan and to execute the way they did was really incredible. I'm really, really proud of our defensive players. I'm really proud of our defensive staff for coming up with a great plan."

Aramis Greenwood darted 57 yards down the sideline leaving a trail of Crusaders in the dust on the Blue Streaks' first 1-play score on the first play from scrimmage after the safety. DaQuan Grobsmith made the score 30-0 on JCU's second 1-play score with 9:30 remaining in the first half when he side-stepped, and broke free from the Crusaders from 22 yards out.

Grobsmith added a 27-yard run in the third quarter, his last carry of the game, to reach the 2,000-yard mark for his career. Grobsmith finished with 117 yards rushing and tied his career-high with three touchdowns.

Senior Alex Kline had a busy night leading the offense with five catches for 37 yards and two scores. Kline hauled in 6- and 7-yard passes from Myers in the second quarter. Myers had a field day finding open targets at will finishing 18-of-20 for 242 yards and three scores. Tight end Zach Strippy added four catches for 56 yards.

"It was great, Alex and Zach both played really well," said Arth. "They made some big catches for us. It was exciting to see. I felt very good about the way we played as a team – offense, defense and special teams. That was a big focus for us to play every play and to get better and we did that."

The Crusaders' rush offense found the Blue Streaks just as unforgiving on the ground as in the air. Capital averaged 3.8 yards per tote and were held to 78 yards under its season average.

Feeny and Krotz both finished with 10 tackles as the defense featured nine players with five or more stops. The No. 1 scoring defense in the nation held Capital to eight first downs and just one third-down conversion in 12 tries.

Kresimir Ivkovic booted a 41-yard field goal and Jonathan Brick plunged in from two yards out to close the scoring for John Carroll in the fourth quarter.

John Carroll heads to Marietta for a 1:30 p.m. tilt on Saturday, Oct. 12. The Blue Streaks will be in search of their first 5-0 start since 2002, a year in which John Carroll bested Marietta for its fifth win.