ASHLAND, VA - Quarterback Austin Faulkner found Michael Atkinson in the corner of the end zone for a 15 yard touchdown with 33 seconds remaining to propel Randolph-Macon to a 41-37 victory over No. 19 Johns Hopkins Saturday in Ashland.

Trailing 37-34, R-MC (2-0) took over at their own 16-yard line with just 1:46 to play and no timeouts. Faulkner completed three consecutive passes to Earl Peopels to start the drive, and then found Peoples on the fifth play for 16 yards, putting R-MC inside the JHU 11. After a false start pushed the Jackets back five yards and a short rushing play, Faulkner scrambled to his left and threw back across the field, where Atkinson was able to haul in the pass, keep his feet in bounds and give R-MC the lead.

JHU (0-1) got the ball back on its own 26 yard line and 28 seconds to go. R-MC linebacker David Fetter iced the game on the first play of the drive, intercepting a Hewitt Tomlin pass to secure the win.

In addition to engineering the game-winning drive, Faulkner finished the day 24-of-39 for 302 yards and three touchdowns. Thaddeus Scruggs rushed for 190 yards on 27 carries, scored twice via the ground and had a 27-yard reception for a touchdown as well. Peoples was able to snare 12 balls for 139 yards and Luke Sellers had four grabs for 38 yards. R-MC compiled 483 yards of offense on the afternoon.

R-MC jumped out to a 13-0 lead after the first quarter on a pair of Josh Storm field goals and a Scruggs 44 yard scoring scamper.

JHU got on the board with 12:53 to go in the first half on a Nick Fazio one yard plunge to make the score 13-7. Things would stay that way until Sellers caught an 11 yard scoring strike with 1:51 to play in the half, putting R-MC out in front 20-7.

The two score lead would not last long as JHU marched down the field on its ensuing possession, pulling within six at 20-14 on a Tomlin seven-yard run with 30 seconds left on the clock.

A pair of Jonathan Rigaud touchdown runs to start the third quarter put JHU up 27-20 with 5:10 to go in the period. The Jackets responded on its next possession when Scruggs ran for a 56 yard score to tie the game.

An Alex Lachman field goal 10 seconds into the final quarter of play gave JHU a 30-27 advantage.

Randolph-Macon regained the lead with 8:25 to go in the contest when Scruggs converted a screen pass for a 27 touchdown, only to see JHU take back the lead 1:02 later when Tomlin found Sam Wernick on a 64 yard scoring strike.

Scott Shope led the R-MC defense with 11 tackles and an interception, while Joe Pricone had eight stops in the win.

Randolph-Macon will take on Shenandoah next Saturday in Ashland. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m.

-Yellow Jackets-