10/3/2004 - Sprint Football
Sprint Football Defeats Army, 31-15, in Pride Bowl
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Navy-Army Pride Bowl Game Summary
Navy's defense limited Army's potent offense to just 289 yards. |
Newark, N.J. - Junior wide receiver Kevin Laughary (Morris, Ill.) caught four passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Navy sprint football team to a 31-15 win over Army in the 26th annual Pride Bowl at Riverfront Stadium Sunday.
Laughary's performance earned him the Izenberg Cup, which is awarded to the game's most valuable player.
The win marked Navy's fourth-consecutive victory in the event and third versus the Black Knights in Newark. The Midshipmen, who improved to 2-0 on the season with the win, out gained Army in total offense by a count of 445-289.
Army got on the board first with a 23-yard Kurt Cheeseman field goal with 8:04 to play in the first quarter.
However, Navy countered and reeled off the next 24 points in the half to take a 24-3 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Mids started the scoring with 4:03 to go in the opening quarter when junior quarterback Brian Nagle (Davenport, Iowa) connected with Laughary on a 29-yard touchdown pass to make it 7-3.
Amir Shareef (Buffalo, N.Y.) put Navy up 14-3 with 8:13 remaining in the second quarter as he scored on a one-yard touchdown run that saw him break two tackles and finally dive over an Army defender to get into the end zone.
Navy's quick-strike offense came into play on its next touchdown. Following an interception by sophomore linebacker David Novotney (Chesterton, Ind.) at the Army 48, Nagle hooked up with Laughery on the very next play for a 48-yard touchdown pass to give the Mids a 21-3 advantage with 5:55 to go until halftime.
Nagle ended the game by going 10-of-15 for 218 yards and the two touchdown tosses.
The Midshipmen tacked on three more points right before the end of the half as freshman Joey Bullen (St. Simons Island, Ga.) nailed a 49-yard field goal to send the Mids into the break with a 24-3 edge.
Navy added a touchdown with 11:53 remaining in the third quarter on Shareef's 20-yard touchdown run.
Army scored a pair of touchdowns after that, but could not complete the rally.
Navy was led defensively by sophomore Ryan Engle (Reed City, Mich.) as he registered 12 tackles. For the second-straight week, senior defensive lineman Dane Brown (Columbia, Md.) had a strong game as he recorded three sacks for minus-12 yards.
The Midshipmen will be back in action next Saturday, as they play host to Cornell at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The game is set to kick off at 1 p.m.
