9/11/2004 - Football
Navy Edges Northeastern, 28-24
ANNAPOLIS - Quarterback Aaron Polanco scored three touchdowns and rushed for 143 yards Saturday to lead Navy to a 28-24 win over Northeastern.
Polanco carried the ball 29 times and scored on runs of 2 yards, 2 yards and 1 yard. He now has scored five touchdowns in two games this season. It also marked the second game in a row he rushed for more than 100 yards in a game.
Navy (2-0), which trailed 17-14 at the half, won its first two games of the season for the first time since 1996, when it won the Aloha Bowl.
The Midshipman gained most of its yardage on the ground, rushing for 300 yards on 58 carries and adding 36 yards through the air. Kyle Eckels added 55 yards on 18 carries for Navy.
After gaining 563 yards in a 71-0 win over Cheyney State last week, Northeastern (1-1) was held to 284 yards offense by Navy.
Huskies quarterback Shawn Brady completed 20 of 29 passes for 176 yards and threw a 19-yard touchdown pass, but he was intercepted three times and turned the ball over on an errant lateral pass. Northeastern's Richard Orah intercepted two Polanco passes.
Two first-half turnovers by the Mids set up Northeastern scores. Orah's interception and return on the first play of the game gave the Huskies the ball at the Navy 1 to set up Brady's 1-yard run just 64 seconds into the game.
A second-quarter Huskies punt also hit Navy's Byron McCoy in the back of the head and was recovered by Northeastern's Gavin Potter to set up a 23-yard field goal by Milo Kesic with three seconds left.
Polanco scored both first-half touchdowns for Navy. He capped a four-play, 61-yard drive with a 2-yard run to counter Northeastern's first score, also picking up 36 yards on a run.
A punt by Kesic pinned Navy at the 2 and the Huskies' defense held. After the Navy punt, Northeastern took over at the 31 and took the lead 14-7 with 11:04 left in the half on a 24-yard run by Anthony Riley.
Polanco 2-yard run and capped an eight-minute, 16-play, 83-yard drive with 3:08 left to tie the game at 14. His 1-yard run and put the Mids ahead 21-14 after they drove 59 yards in seven plays.
On the first play following the score, Jeremy Chase hurried Brady into a pass which was intercepted by Reggie Sealey -giving Navy the ball at the 21.
Polanco's 14-yard pass to Kyle Eckels set up Frank Divis' 3-yard run, which gave Navy a 28-17 lead with 9:05 left in the third period.
Brady passed 19 yards to Cory Parks to cap an 83-yard drive that pulled Northeastern within 28-24 with 3:12 left in the quarter, but Navy's defense shut down Northeastern in the fourth quarter.
Navy's Josh Smith recovered an errant lateral early in the period, and Babatunde Akingbemi batted Brady's pass down at the line of scrimmage on a fourth-and-4 play at the Northeastern 49 to end the Huskies' final drive with two minutes to play.
