Thiel starts, finishes strong behind Hess, Satterfield, Chambers

Johns Hopkins' only points were scored on the team's first possession.
By BILL ALBRIGHT
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
GREENVILLE -- Thiel College quarterback Darrell Satterfield led the Tomcats to scores on three of their first four possessions in their first postseason game.
Brandon Chambers of Farrell caught all three touchdown tosses Saturday in Thiel's 28-3 victory over Johns Hopkins in the NCAA Division III playoff game. Chambers' touchdown receptions covered 53, 57 and 26 yards.
Thiel (11-0) advances to the second round of the tournament and will play Washington & amp; Jefferson or Bridgewater Saturday at Alumni Stadium at noon.
"Obviously, I am ecstatic about what happened out there today," Thiel coach Jack Leipheimer said. "The kids played extremely well and just did a great job in all phases of the ball game."
Hopkins scores
Johns Hopkins scored on its first possession.
"We felt pretty good about the way we came out," Hopkins coach Jim Margraff said. "We felt very excited because our defense got us a three-and-out, and we were able to go right down the field and get a field goal.
"But they are a very tough team to defend, especially as long as we had to defend them today," Margraff said. "They are a very well coached team and today, they answered everything we threw at them."
Taking control
After surrendering the field goal, the Tomcats took control of the game through the airways.
"He [Satterfield] just threw it up there, and I went and got it," Chambers said.
While Chambers was having his career day, South Range graduate Jim Sanders was one of the Hopkins defensive backs that had to deal with him all day long.
"He is a great athlete, one of the best we have faced all year," Sanders said. "We came into the game wanting to pay attention to where he faced at all times, and we were able to do that. We were there, but it just came down to him making more plays than we made today."
Satterfield threw for 320 yards, while Chambers caught 10 passes for 208 yards.
Freshman shines
Ahead 21-3 at halftime, the Tomcats gave the Blue Jays a steady dose of Dan Hess to put the game away. Hess was activated because of an injury suffered by starting running back Steve Minton.
On Thiel's first possession of the second half, Hess carried the ball six times for 61 yards, including a 3-yard run for the Tomcat's fourth score. Hess, a freshman, finished with 147 yards on 30 carries.
"I knew that our offensive line would continue to dominate," Hess said. "I started last week and had some game experience earlier in the season, so I didn't feel any extra pressure in today's game."