Final Stats

RINDGE, N.H. - The Navy sprint football team continued its undefeated 2014 campaign with a strong effort on the road at Franklin Pierce on Saturday. Taking on a 2-4 Ravens team, the Mids moved to 6-0 with a 45-21 win. Down 21-20 early in the third quarter, Navy closed the game on a 25-0 run to earn the victory.

"Franklin Pierce came out fighting hard as we expected," remarked Navy head coach Maj. Kavan Lake, USMC. "Once we got rolling, we drove down the field with a sense of urgency. For the second week in a row we've shown that we can run the ball and throw the ball for a well-balanced game. This was a complete team effort."

Offensively, Eric Wellmon (Jr., Wallkill, N.Y.) led the Mids with a career-high 227 rushing yards and three touchdowns. His stellar outing was augmented by three passing touchdowns and 157 yards from quarterback Joe Hampton (Sr., Charleston, S.C.). Hampton connected on his scoring passes to Colin Butler (Fr., McDonough, Ga.) twice and Matthew Hite (Jr., Chapin, S.C.) once.

"Joe Hampton efficiently worked down the field behind a stout offensive line this afternoon," explained Lake. "He's in great form now and I love his confidence. Colin Butler came up big for us with two touchdowns and Matt Hite capped things off with a score in the fourth quarter. We'd be remiss without giving kudos to Eric Wellmon. That guy just finds a way to get it done with another amazing game. Behind a relentless offensive line, Eric continues to find the running lanes he needs to pick up big yards and find the end zone."

On the defensive side of the ball, Chris Mershon (Sr., Lee's Summit, Mo.) led a Mids squad that accumulated five sacks, two caused turnovers and allowed just 204 yards of total offense to the Ravens. Mershon registered a team-high nine tackles and 2.5 sacks. Of his nine stops, 4.5 were behind the line of scrimmage for minus-23 yards. Drew Dziwulski (So. Woodbine, Md.) and Dan Gilmore (Jr., Mansfield, Mass.) caused the turnovers for Navy as Dziwulski forced a first quarter fumble and Gilmore made a fourth quarter interception.

"The defense found ways to get Franklin Pierce off the field today," said Lake. "They set the offense up with great field position off key turnovers and by forcing a number of three-and-outs. They did their job and did it well."

Franklin Pierce opened with the game's first touchdown as the host Ravens went up 7-0 at the 8:59 mark of the first quarter. After Franklin Pierce picked off a Hampton pass on the ensuing possession, Navy responded with a forced fumble by Dziwulski. With the ball spotted on the home team's 47 yard line, the visiting Mids ran two plays to even out the score. After a Hampton rush for six yards, Wellmon took the next handoff and bolted down the field 41 yards at 5:43.

Navy took over the lead on its next possession as it went 79 yards on seven plays. A 62-yard pass and catch connection between Hampton and Hite helped flip the field from Navy's 21 yard line to Franklin Pierce's 17. Wellmon capped the drive with a three-yard plunge at the 14:17 mark of the second quarter.

Up 13-7, the Mids stretched their lead to 20-7 as they made it three touchdowns on three consecutive drives. Hampton spearheaded Navy's offense on the scoring drive as the senior passed for 37 yards and rushed for another 22 yards. Hampton found Butler from 18 yards out to notch the touchdown at 4:19.

A late touchdown by Franklin Pierce made it a 20-14 game heading into the halftime intermission.

In the first drive of the second half, a forced fumble caused by Franklin Pierce and subsequent 35-yard return after the recovery gave the Ravens a lead of 21-20 at 12:53.

Navy took over the game after that point as all aspects of the team started clicking. Special teams was first as punter Jules Murphy (Fr., Easton, Mass.) pinned Franklin Pierce at its own one yard line on a 65-yard kick. With the Mids now in control of field position, they forced the Ravens into a three-and-out and used the ensuing short field to quickly re-take the lead on a four play, 47-yard drive. Wellmon opened the drive with 22 yards on the ground before Hampton hooked up with Butler from 25 yards out.

Following a two-point conversation, Navy found itself up 28-21. The defense helped set up another scoring drive for its offense by forcing its second straight three-and-out. With the ball on Franklin Pierce's 40 yard line, the Mids took 3:29 off the clock and settled for a 25-yard field goal by Brett Deters (Jr., Ankeny, Iowa).

With a 10-point lead, Navy closed out the game with two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter to make it 45-21 final score. Wellmon recorded his third score of the game at 11:14 with a 36-yard rush before Hampton and Hite connected for a 22-yard scoring completion at 8:26.

For the game, Navy outgained Franklin Pierce, 418 to 204 on the strength of a 261 to 40 advantage in rushing yards.

With today's outcome, the Mids have outscored their opponents 238 to 90 in six games. Offensively, Navy has outgained its opposition on average, 392.8 yards to 173.3. The Mids' defense has allowed only 69 total yards on the ground so far in 2014.

Individually on the year, Wellmon has accounted for 1138 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns. All-time he is 15 yards shy of breaking David Williams' program record for most yards in a single season.

"We now turn our focus to Army," said Lake. "Next Friday will be an all-out battle. We're ready."

Navy will conclude its season next Friday night at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium with the CSFL Championship and 2014 star on the line as it will hosts Army. The matchup between the 6-0 Mids and 6-0 Black Knights is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m.