At the core of Johns Hopkins football’s undefeated run to the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs is a proud group of players and coaches backed by a history of success and haughty enough to dare they can join the rarefied air of those who have already been called national champions.

And maybe a few degrees off-center is a snub that rankled the Blue Jays.

Rewind to Nov. 13, 2022. One day after Johns Hopkins had completed a 9-1 regular season that included a two-point loss to Susquehanna, the players and coaches gathered for a team dinner and a watch party inside the Newton White Athletic Center to learn of their postseason fate.

Many Division III pundits and observers projected that the Blue Jays would earn one of a few coveted at-large bids to the playoffs. So when the broadcast ended without the team included in the field of 32, the reaction was immediate and numbing.

“As each team’s name got announced and more and more at-large bids were off the table, there was definitely a sense of anxiousness,” senior running back Spencer Uggla recalled. “Then when we found out we didn’t get in, it was obviously very heartbreaking for some of the seniors and fifth years who came back in the hopes of making another run. It was definitely not a fun feeling.”

Added senior defensive end Luke Schuermann: “We definitely felt like we were wronged by the committee, but that’s how everyone who is on the bubble and doesn’t make it probably feels. It was a mix of anger and that slow realization that it was very disappointing.”

That memory has been one of the bigger logs the players have thrown on the fire to fuel their march this season. Johns Hopkins completed its sixth 10-0 regular season in program history and captured its 16th Centennial Conference title.

The Blue Jays (11-0), who are ranked No. 7 in the most recent American Football Coaches Association poll, walloped Western Connecticut State, 64-20, in Saturday’s first-round game and will host Union (10-1) on Saturday at noon at Homewood Field. The Dutchmen upset No. 25 Delaware Valley, 24-16.

Hopkins coach Greg Chimera played the role of diplomat and declined to assign blame for the team’s absence from last year’s postseason. He said the message to the current group in the offseason was simple.

“Our motivation this year was just to win the conference and not have it be in the hands of the selection committee,” he said. “It was kind of like, ‘Let’s just handle our business and control what we can control. Let’s win the conference so that on Selection Sunday, we’re just eating pizza and not worrying about it.’ ”

The road opened with a 27-17 win against an Ithaca team that had advanced to the playoff quarterfinals a year ago. Johns Hopkins scored 20 straight points bridging the second and third quarters, and Chimera said the outcome raised the players’ morale.

“I think it showed our guys that we can compete with any team and let them know that we’re battle-tested when we face other adversity,” he said. “ It kind of just gave that quiet confidence that we’re going to be OK in any situation.”

Two games later, the Blue Jays took to the road for the first time and cruised to a 42-7 romp over Salisbury, scoring the game’s final 29 points in the second half. That dominance made an impression on Schuermann.

“That was the game where we realized we could be a good team, and we actually did it,” he said. “I don’t think there was ever any doubt that we could be that team, but that was the first time we were able to show it.”

The Centennial Conference portion of the schedule offered some tests. Johns Hopkins trailed Franklin & Marshall, 20-13, midway through the third quarter before punching in three consecutive touchdowns for a 34-27 win Oct. 14.

Muhlenberg scored 14 points in a four-minute span of the fourth quarter to tie the score at 28 before senior tight end Will Leger returned a blocked field goal attempt 14 yards for the game-winning touchdown with no time remaining Oct. 28. And the Blue Jays had to rally from a 23-13 deficit midway through the third quarter to cement a 34-23 victory over Dickinson on Nov. 4 that earned them the league championship.

Uggla said the team’s perseverance has been inspirational.

“I really feel like that’s been our identity all year, just finding ways to win and leaning on the guys when we need to,” he said. “We have so many talented guys here, and we’ve found ways.”

Several players have stood out in Johns Hopkins’ march to this stage. In his first season as the full-time starting quarterback after replacing Ryan Stevens, junior Bay Harvey threw for 2,653 yards and 32 touchdowns and rushed for 569 yards and eight scores. And junior linebackers Cole Peters (73 tackles, three interceptions) and Oliver Craddock (64 tackles, 2 INTs) have filled the void created by the graduation of Duncan Van Kouteren and Matt Dubois.

Chimera was at a loss to identify the team’s most important strength.

“We just don’t have any weaknesses,” he said. “I don’t know if we had any last year, but it just seems like we’re a very balanced team right now, which I think makes us tough to beat.”

As of now, there’s no prohibition within the team about discussing the idea of a national championship. But for a team that has advanced to the quarterfinals only twice in 2009 and 2018 and the semifinals once in 2018, the focus is on trying to take care of Union.

“We always say, ‘Work like you’re 0-10, but hold yourself like you’re 10-0,’ ” Uggla said. “So having that mentality to keep pushing and keep grinding is important because we do know our true potential. We have the confidence to go out there and know that we have a talented group of guys that can handle business.”