Oct. 8, 2011
Final Stats
MANSFIELD, Pa. -- The Navy sprint football team scored the game's final 23 points to rally from a 19-7 third-quarter deficit and defeat Mansfield, 30-19, in front of nearly 3,500 fans on Mansfield's Homecoming.
The win moves Navy's overall record to 4-0 overall and 3-0 in league play, while Mansfield falls to 1-3 overall and 1-3 in league play.
"Mansfield looked stronger on film than years past and definitely showed up to play today. They executed better than we did in the first half and made a number of big plays," said Navy head coach Maj. Mitch Maury, USMC. "Playing from behind is not something we have had to do this year so it was good to see the guys react to the challenge and step it up in the second half. Offensively, I knew that if we stayed persistent, our run game would eventually start to click. In the fourth quarter, that's exactly what happened and when paired with some clutch defense stops and a pick six, we were able to wear them down and close it out. Overall, I was extremely proud of the fight the team displayed today."
After a scoreless first quarter, Navy took a 7-0 lead when its defense struck first. Will Parker scooped up a Mounties' fumble deep in Mansfield territory and returned it 10 yards for a touchdown.
Mansfield responded with a pair of touchdown drives in the final five minutes before halftime led by quarterback Mike Maniscolco. The first culminated in a 32-yard touchdown pass from Maniscolco to Pat Mankewicz with 4:07 to play and the second, a 21-yard pass to Mankewicz that gave Mansfield a 13-7 cushion, came with 28 seconds left before halftime.
Just two minutes into the second half, Maniscolco tossed his third touchdown pass of the game, this time to Sean Green from 30 yards out, which gave the Mounties a 19-7 advantage with 13:28 to play in the third quarter.
On the ensuing drive, Navy went 45 yards in 15 plays in over seven minutes that was capped off by a Adrian Montecinos 39-yard field goal to trim the margin to 19-10, which was the score at the end of the third quarter.
On Navy's first drive of the fourth quarter, quarterback Lewis Correale hooked up with David Williams on a 16-yard touchdown pass to cut the Mansfield lead to 19-17 with 11:32 left.
Navy continued its offensive surge and took the lead for good on a Marty Meehan three-yard run with 5:20 left to take a 23-19 lead.
The Navy defense then scored its second touchdown on a Samuel Gideon 40-yard interception return on Mansfield's next possession with 4:13 to play to close out the scoring for a 30-19 comeback victory.
Navy outgained Mansfield, 302-254, and held Mansfield to just 48 yards rushing. The Mids ran for 181 yards and threw for 121 yards through the air. The two teams combined to go just 8-of-31 on third-down conversions and Navy forced two turnovers, scoring on both of them. Navy held a 32:59 to 27:01 advantage in time of possession, including a 20:04 to 9:56 advantage in the second half.
David Williams continued his impressive campaign, running 28 times for 147 yards. Correale completed 11-of-26 passes for 121 yards. Drew Presnall had four catches for 55 yards. Defensively, Matthew Piotrowicz had eight tackles while T.J. Leonard had six.
Navy travels to Princeton on Friday, Oct. 21 for a 7:00 pm kickoff.
# GO NAVY #
