7/14/2003 - Football
Candeto and Carthan named 2003 Football Team Captains
ANNAPOLIS, Md.-Navy head football coach Paul Johnson announced Monday that Craig Candeto (Orange City, Fla.) and Eddie Carthan (Donalsonville, Ga.) would be captains for the 2003 season.
"I can't think of two better young men to represent our football team this year than Craig and Eddie," said Johnson. "They are excellent football players and team leaders on and off the field. They will set an example for the rest of the team to follow."
Candeto started and played in 11 of Navy's 12 games in 2002 and led the team in rushing with 775 yards and 16 touchdowns. He completed 51 of his 103 passes for 843 yards with five touchdowns and four interceptions. His 16 rushing touchdowns tied for the second most in school history and his 96 points scored went down in the record books as the fifth most in Navy history.
Candeto had arguably the greatest single-game performance in the 123-year history of Navy football when he rushed for 103 yards and six touchdowns and threw for another touchdown in Navy's 58-12 rout of Army. His six touchdowns broke the Army-Navy game record (previous record was four set by Charles Emrich in 1890) and tied the school record for touchdowns in a game (Lou Benoist in 1919 vs. Colby and Harold Martin in 1917 vs. Western Reserve). The six touchdowns were also the most touchdowns scored by any Navy player in their career against Army and it tied an NCAA record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback.
Candeto also starred on the baseball field for the Midshipmen, starting 37 games in the outfield. He led the team in batting average (.370), hits (51), doubles (14), home runs (6), RBIs (31), total bases (91), slugging percentage (.659) and on-base percentage (.418). He had a monster Patriot League Tournament hitting two singles, a double, two triples and three home runs in four games.
He was named the 2003 winner of the Thompson Trophy which is given to the midshipman, male or female, that has done the most during the year to promote varsity athletics at the Naval Academy and enters this year with the opportunity to become just the fourth athlete in school history to win the Thompson Trophy twice, joining E.W. Miles (football, 1917-18), Roger Staubach (football, basketball and baseball, 1963-64-65 and David Robinson (basketball, 1986-87).
Carthan is considered by Navy's coaches to be one of its best all-around players and Navy's switch to a 3-4 defensive alignment will give him an opportunity to be more of an impact player this fall.
Carthan played and started in 11 of Navy's 12 games last year and finished second on the team with 74 tackles. He led the Mids in tackles for a loss with eight and recorded three sacks and recovered three fumbles. Carthan had the best game of his career against Notre Dame, recording six tackles, two tackles for a loss, one sack and recovering a fumble.
The Mids start preseason camp Monday, Aug. 4, with a morning practice session, before participating in the Navy Fan Festival/Media Day that afternoon at 3:30 p.m. at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
Season tickets are currently on sale at the Navy Box Office in Ricketts Hall or by calling 1-800-US4-NAVY. The Mids open up the 2003 campaign Saturday, Aug. 30 against VMI in a 1:30 p.m. kickoff.
