Oct. 16, 2009

Box Score

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy sprint football team ran for 494 yards en route to a 42-0 victory over Princeton on a wet and cold Friday evening at Rip Miller Field in its home finale. The Midshipmen improved to 5-0 on the year and 3-0 in CSFL play, while the Tigers dropped to 0-5 overall and 0-3 in league play.

The Midshipmen have won 21-straight games dating back to the 2006 campaign and 23-consecutive contests in Annapolis, spanning back to the start of the 2001 season.

Navy's ground game accounted for 494 of the team's 579 yards of total offense on Friday with 11 different players registering a carry. Denzel Reina (Fr./Wake Forest, N.C.) led the way with 148 yards on 23 carries with a touchdown, while Marty Meehan (So./Port Washington, N.Y.) also eclipsed the century mark with 107 yards on just eight attempts with a score. Four other Midshipmen runners gained more than 40 yards - Jordan Foley (So./Butler, Pa.), Mike McLaughlin (Sr./Allison Park, Pa.), Vince DeBenedetti (So./Tinley Park, Ill.) and Will Harris (Fr./Athens, Ga.).

"It was good to see all of our running backs contribute tonight," stated Navy head coach Maj. Jake Jenkins, USMC. "With a lot of our offensive line out, this front five really came through. Under these weather conditions, we needed to be able to move the ball on the ground in order to be successful."

Meanwhile, the Navy defense did its part in posting a second-straight shutout and has not allowed an opposing touchdown over the last-14 quarters. The Midshipmen held Princeton's offense to 85 yards and minus-10 rushing yards. Navy picked off three passes and recovered a fumble to push its turnovers forced total to 11 over the past-two games.

Tom Hayes (Sr./Ballston Lake, N.Y.) and K.C. Middleton (Sr./Jacksonville, Fla.) each had six tackles in the win. Hayes made three of those stops for a loss with a sack, while Middleton delivered two tackles in the backfield. Nicholas Pretty (Sr./San Jose, Calif.) picked off two passes and deflected away two others in containing Princeton's quarterbacks to 11-of-34 passing.

"The defense was flying around the field all night," said Jenkins. "They really picked us up after some turnovers and set us up with several opportunities to score."

Despite outgaining the Tigers by more than 200 yards in the first half, Navy only held a 14-0 lead going into halftime, as it was plagued with three-straight drives ending in fumbles. The Midshipmen put the ball on the turf nine times, with four of those recovered by the visitors.

Princeton put together a 58-yard drive midway through the first quarter that stalled on the Navy 14. The Tigers went for a 31-yard field goal to try and strike first, but Joe Davis (Jr./Olmsted Falls, Ohio) came in and blocked the try to keep the game scoreless.

On the ensuing possession, the Midshipmen marched 84 yards on 10 plays, culminating in a 36-yard touchdown scamper by Foley to put the hosts up 7-0. With 20 seconds left in the half, Foley would find the end zone again, this time from one yard out.

Navy extended its cushion on a three-yard run by Reina during the opening drive of the second half before Meehan raced down the left sideline 71 yards for a touchdown with 4:30 remaining in the third quarter to make the score 28-0.

The Mids put the game away in the fourth quarter with two more rushing touchdowns. DeBenedetti reached pay dirt from 38 yards for his second-career touchdown and Harris registered a 25-yard scoring run for the first of his young career.

Tyler Terronez (Jr./Mechanicsburg, Pa.) completed 4-of-10 passes for 85 yards, with each of his connections going to a different Navy receiver.

With Friday's shutout performance, Navy has held Princeton scoreless in each of its last-five meetings. The Mids have not allowed the Tigers to reach the end zone over the last 303 minutes and 18 seconds, dating back to the 2004 season.

The Midshipmen will return to action next Friday at 7 p.m., when they head up to Franklin Field in Philadelphia to take on Penn (3-2, 1-2 CSFL).