Final Stats

MANSFIELD, Pa. - Down 14-6 at halftime, the Navy sprint football team (2-0) used a standout offensive performance by Eric Wellmon and a staunch defensive effort to thwart the host Mansfield Mountaineers' upset attempt and earn a 26-14 victory on Saturday afternoon at Karl Van Norman Field. The junior running back earned 200 of his 224 total yards in the second half as he nearly single-handily led the Mids to the come-from-behind victory. The visitors' defense showed strong as well in the final two quarters of play as it shut out Mansfield (0-2) and held the Mountaineers to 73 total yards.

Individually, Wellmon (Jr., Wallkill, N.Y.) highlighted Navy's play as he carried the ball 27 times for 224 yards and three touchdowns. The junior augmented his rushing numbers with one catch for 12 yards. At quarterback, Joe Hampton (Sr., Charleson, S.C.) finished 12 of 25 for 109 yards and one touchdown pass. His leading receiving target was freshman wideout Colin Butler (McDonough, Ga.), who made five catches for 49 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, Navy had strong efforts from numerous players, including Keegan Kush (So., La Vista, Neb.), who led the team with eight tackles and Chris Mershon (Sr., Lee's Summit, Mo.), who had two sacks in his first appearance of the season. The Mids' starting defensive backfield was solid throughout as three of its starters, Brady Flies (Sr., Seattle, Wash.), Kendall Mackey (So., Atlanta, Ga.) and Dan Gilmore (Jr., Mansfield, Mass.) all recorded six tackles in the contest.

"We got off to a slow start today and I definitely was not satisfied with our play in the first half," said Navy head coach Maj. Kavan Lake, USMC. "We made adjustments at the half and came out and immediately went to work in the third quarter. I'm extremely proud of Eric [Wellmon] as he came to me at the half and told me to give him the ball. He really carried us in the second half. Today, we proved that football is a 60-minute game and you have to battle throughout."

The game started with staunch defense on both sides of the ball as neither squad had a score in the first quarter. Mershon and Ben Pope (Sr., Memphis, Tenn.) led the Mids' charge on defense as Mershon sacked Mansfield's quarterback Mike Maniscalco on the first play of the game and Pope quelled a dangerous Mountaineer drive with an interception at Navy's eight yard line. For the period, the two teams combined for 48 total yards, 32 for Navy and 16 for Mansfield.

Navy finally got on the scoreboard early in the second quarter as the team finished its 48-yard drive with a touchdown connection from Hampton to Butler from 21 yards out. This was the second of five catches for the freshman in the first half.

"He was so strong for us on the right side in the first half," said Lake about his freshman wideout. "He has extremely good hands and knows what to do when called upon."

Mansfield responded to tie the game at 6-6 with a 13-play drive that went 64 yards. The hosts then took the lead by a 14-6 margin after they forced the Mids into a four-and-out near midfield. Maniscalco led Mansfield quickly down the field for 31 of his team's 45 yards and touchdown pass. At the half, The Mountaineers had outgained the Mids, 103 to 97.

Navy wasted little time clawing its way back into the contest as it took the second half kickoff and efficiently marched down the field for 63 yards on five plays. After an initial incompletion, the Mids fed Wellmon on four straight rushing plays. The junior ran for gains of 19, three and nine yards before finding the end zone from 32 yards out. This would be the beginning of the Eric Wellmon Show in the third quarter as he put the offense on his back and scored two more touchdowns over the next two possessions. He gave Navy a 19-14 lead at the 8:19 mark on a sprint in from 55 yards out before adding some insurance with a four-yard touchdown at 1:28. In the third quarter, Wellmon was involved in 11 of the Mids' 16 offensive plays and rushed for 151 yards and three touchdowns.

Navy's defense made sure that the 12-point lead would hold as it completely shut Mansfield's offense down to the tune of 73 total yards in the second half. With a lead and the Mountaineers' running attack growing frustrated and fading fast, the Mids' were able to key into the quarterback and wreak havoc. On back-to-back possessions with their team up, 26-14, the duo of Flies and Jon Moyle (Sr., Tallahassee, Fla.) got pressure on the quarterback and forced fumbles, though the Mountaineers recovered and maintained possession. Overall in the second half, Navy's defense held Maniscalco to only nine completions on 20 attempts.

A long, time-consuming 53-yard drive late in the fourth quarter would secure the Mids' second victory of 2014 by a final score of 26-14.

For the game, Navy outgained Mansfield, 377 to 176 and held a 267 to -3 advantage in rushing yards.

"Our defense was fantastic, especially in the second half," said Lake. "They were aggressive and up field for a good portion of the game. We got some penalties for our over-aggressiveness, but I can live with those as we were playing hard. Mansfield made some plays early, but we made adjustments and really made them one-dimensional [passing] in the second half."

Navy will next be in action on Saturday, Oct. 4 versus Penn. The Mids and Quakers will meet up at Franklin Field in Philadelphia in a 7 p.m. contest.