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John Carroll University Athletics

home of the Blue Streaks
Joey Torok reception vs. Muskingum
Jose Figueroa
John Carroll made some fantastic plays on offense, including a 99-yard Joey Torok reception.
13
Muskingum MUS 3-5 , 2-5
42
Winner John Carroll JCU 7-1 , 7-0
Muskingum MUS
3-5 , 2-5
13
Final
42
John Carroll JCU
7-1 , 7-0
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
MUS Muskingum 6 7 0 0 13
JCU John Carroll 7 21 7 7 42

Game Recap: Football | | Joe Ginley '16, SID

Blue Streaks Roar Past Muskingum on Senior Day & Cancer Awareness Game

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS – On a celebratory day, commemorating both Senior Day as well as Cancer Awareness Day Presented by Cleveland Clinic, the Blue Streaks put together a great game.

John Carroll put on an offensive show with highlight-worthy plays while playing strong defense in a 42-14 victory.

The #13/15 Blue Streaks advance to 7-1 overall, including 7-0 in Ohio Athletic Conference play, to set up a titanic contest vs. #2 Mount Union at Don Shula Stadium next Saturday.

"It's always good to win at home, especially when you're honoring your seniors," said Head Coach Jeff Behrman '95. "College football is not easy. When you commit to it and go through it for 4-5 years, it's something to be proud about. I'm proud we got the victory for those guys today, and for those who have lost their battle to cancer and those who are fighting their battles right now."

SENIOR DAY PHOTOS

Muskingum got the ball first on offense, but did not gain any traction on offense. The Blue Streaks followed up with a punt of their own. On Muskingum's second drive of the day, the deadlock was broken.

Muskingum opened the scoring at the end of a plodding 13-play. 79-yard drive, capped off by a 4-yard touchdown from backup QB Jayden Young to Ja'Lin Goodman. On the extra point, Bricker Thiel, Ben Grafton, and Tyler Thimons all got paws on the ball, blocking the attempt.

In response, Joe Collins fired up his arm. The graduate student lofted a beautiful ball to Brennan Fugh on a fly route down the left side. Fugh hauled it in for a 63-yard touchdown strike. Yanni Volas' point after was true, good for a 7-6 JCU lead, which stood at the end of the first quarter.

"Growing up with Joe these 4-5 years here, we've developed a good connection," said Fugh. "He found me, and I tried to make plays for him. It ended up being good today."

Muskingum's next drive ended deep in JCU territory, as the Fighting Muskies pinned John Carroll at its own 2-yard line. After two rushes that resulted in a loss of one, John Carroll turned to the air. 

Joe Torok hauled in a drag route at about the 5-yard line on the nearside hash, and got to the sidelines. The grad student roared down the sideline, getting great blocks from Matthew Buser and Tyler Mintz. Torok charged all the way to the house for the score and a record-tying 99-yard touchdown reception.

The Kirtland native's highlight play tied with a 99-yard touchdown pass from John Wicinski to Donnell Lipford on September 20, 1975 vs. Bethany. As JCU historian Bryan Fritz '75 recalls, the record scoring play occurred after a JCU goal-line stop on fourth down. The very next play, JCU, lining up on a wishbone, surprised Bethany with a pass play. Lipford, a small speedster from Glenville, dashed 99 yards to paydirt.

The Blue Streaks added another pretty play to keep applying the pressure. Brennan Fugh ran a perfect route to the end zone on a playaction pass. Initially, the Shaler Area grad tapped the ball in the air before catching it with one hand and showing it to the referee for a fantastic play. 

Muskingum managed to slim the deficit in response, with Goodman grabbing his second TD reception of the day to narrow the gap to 21-13.

On the final drive of the half, the Blue Streaks fired down the field. With 16 seconds left in the half, Collins scrambled out of the pocket and found Lucas D'Orazio for a 7-yard scoring strike. With the grad student's TD grab, the Blue Streaks enjoyed a 28-13 lead at halftime.

On JCU's first drive of the second half, the Blue Streaks drove down the field and looked to extend the lead. D'Orazio caught a short pass and looked to be pushed into the end zone for a 20-yard TD. But the referees ruled that D'Orazio fumbled just short of the goal line, and Muskingum recovered for a touchback.

The Blue Streak defense stood strong, giving the ball back quickly to the offense. And the offense continued to make some sweet, sweet music.

Collins cooked up a fantastic pass, looking off the defensive backs to the flat before turning to Fugh on a post route across the middle. Fugh hauled in the pass in space before leaping over a defender at the 5-yard line and firing into the end zone for six. Fugh tied for second in program history, tying his career-high from a couple years vs. Capital. Watch the highlight here

"It was a good game for us today," said Fugh. "Any team in the OAC is tough to play any given Saturday. Today, all things were clicking. Joe got into the end zone on a little boot at the end, which was pretty cool. Overall, great day for the seniors and fifth-years."

The Blue Streaks finished off the scoring in the fourth quarter, as Joe Collins dashed on a bootleg run from 1 yard out to complete an 8-play, 64-yard drive. 

Collins finished quite efficiently with 14-of-18 passing for 348 yards and 5 touchdowns, tying for second in program history with many others. Collins' 348 yards and 5 passing TDs were both career highs. His rushing TD was also a career first. Collins is now seventh in career passing yards with 4,441 over his two years, passing the great P.J. Insana. The Michigander is now fifth in career touchdowns with 51, as well as eighth in completions with 324. 

Brennan Fugh advances up the program rankings after his 5-catch, 145-yard, 3 TD day. Fugh now has 2,659 career receiving yards, surpassing Jeff Lerner for second all-time. Fugh also now stands tied for third with 24 career TD receptions with Larry Holmes. 

Quincy Newsom topped the team with 10 carries for 95 yards, while Evan McVay tallied 71 yards. JCU finished with 238 rushing yards, averaging 5.8 yards per carry. 

As a team, the Blue Streaks finished with 586 yards, averaging 9.9 yards per play. JCU limited Muskingum to 235 yards of offense. 

Tyler Thimons topped the team with 9 tackles on the day, adding one tackle for loss. Chris Golson tabbed 8 tackles, while Jacob Hufnagel tallied 7 stops. Jahiem Peake, Griffin Lidyard, Bricker Thiel, Jake Phillips, and Isaac Wilson each had a hand in both a sack and tackle for loss. 

"It's special, we have a large senior class. We've been through a lot. Coach keeps mentioning that when we came in, it was weird with Covid. We take pride in this class. A lot of guys in this class just show up and work. It was hard to make it through Covid, so we lost some guys along the way, but the guys who stuck it out and made it the whole time are unbelievable teammates and people."

The Blue Streaks will be busy this week preparing for the Purple Raiders and a battle of Top 25 teams in NCAA Division III. Kickoff for next Saturday's game will be 1:30 pm at Don Shula Stadium. 

"We don't change our work week regardless of who the opponent is," said Behrman. "We'll get to work tomorrow morning with the team meeting, then they'll be off on Monday, and we'll go back to work on Tuesday. It doesn't change anything, it's more or less just making sure they understand the game plans and are ready and prepared to execute the gameplans."
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