BALTIMORE — Their mascot is a bird, their home turf is in Baltimore City, and their title hopes hinge on a game this weekend. And it's not the team you're thinking of.
The Johns Hopkins Blue Jays, who have had a dominant season, are eyeing a Division III national championship, with a semifinal game against the University of Wisconsin-River Falls this Saturday.
WATCH: Johns Hopkins Blue Jays travel to Wisconsin for D3 semifinal game
"Feeling excited, to be honest with you," head coach Dan Wodicka told WMAR-2 News. "When it gets to this point in the year, I've been saying to the guys, every single week, I'm just excited we get another week of football."
Coach Wodicka played at Hopkins, and came up through the coaching ranks, having been special teams coordinator, defensive coordinator, and finally, head coach. No Hopkins coach has achieved a D3 championship - yet.
"It'd be enormous. We've been knocking on the door. This is our third time, in the final four NCAA Semifinals, and we haven't gotten over that hurdle. So I think that'd be huge, making it to the national championship," Wodicka said.
The 2025 Blue Jays are seemingly allergic to losing. They did not lose a game until November 15, ten games into the season; a one-point loss to Franklin & Marshall in Lancaster, PA, which was the Blue Jays' only loss.
In the D3 NCAA Tournament, the Jays beat Springfield, Salisbury and Susquehanna by at least 20 points each in the D-3 NCAA Tournament. Now, they prepare for the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, with a quarterback who leads Division III in passing yards.
"Their quarterback is unbelievable. They have a lot of good players but everything starts with their quarterback. He's really elusive, he can run the ball and not only just throw it all over the place. You can't totally stop him, but try to contain him as much as we possibly can on Saturday," Wodicka said.
To get a win in Wisconsin, Wodicka tells me he'll lean on his two quarterbacks: Bay Harvey, the signal caller whom Wodicka calls an unbelievable leader, and defensive back Carson Bourdo, the quarterback of the defense.
"We're excited. We're playing a team we've never played before, and so we know they're really good. We're going to go up and compete, and just have fun," Wodicka said.
If they win, they could play John Carroll University from Ohio, whom Hopkins already beat in September, or North Central out of Illinois, in the championship game in Canton, Ohio.
