Final Stats

ANNAPOLIS, Md. â€" The Navy sprint football team got its 2015 season off to a rousing start on Friday evening with an emphatic 68-3 victory over Longwood at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. In the first game under the tutelage of new head coach Major Jeff Polson, USMC, the Mids dominated Lancers, a full-sized club team, in all aspects of the game and recorded nine touchdowns on offense and four turnovers on defense.

Friday night's game also had significance in the program's history as senior running back Eric Wellmon (Wallkill, N.Y.) broke the team's career record for rushing yards with 55 on the day and 1,816 for his career. Coming into the contest, Wellmon needed 51 yards to break the 33-year old record of Chris Butler (USNA '83), who rushed for 1,811 yards over his four-year career that stretched from 1979-1982. On a 13-yard run down to the four yard line midway through the first quarter, Wellmon passed Butler before promptly scoring on the next play.

"Tonight was a lot of work," remarked Polson. "We got reps for our first, second and third teams and there's a lot to be learned from that. From time to time there were mistakes made and we put ourselves in situations that we had to dig out from. There is a lot to work on and clean up during the week as we look ahead to Mansfield."

Offensively, a stout rushing attack was the story as five different Midshipmen ball carriers recorded 10 or more yards on the ground, including three with 50 or more. Sophomore newcomer Mac Lavis (Orinda, Calif.) was the leader with 114 yards and four touchdowns scored on 30 attempts. Veterans James Lieto (Jr., Carlisle, Pa.) and Wellmon split the majority of snaps in the first half with Lieto gaining 71 yards on 10 carries and Wellmon notching 55 and a touchdown on eight carries.

"In the second half, Lavis carried a lot of weight for us," said Polson. "He had 30 carries and over a hundred yards. Those are great reps for him and it allows us to know we have capable depth for our backfield on the bench moving forward."

In his first career start as a quarterback, Nick Deterding (Jr., Lindsborg, Kan.) was 3-6 for 38 yards and a touchdown pass. His backup, freshman Jimmy Wynne (Bridge Creek, Okla.) went 6-12 for 90 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, an active secondary proved problematic for the Lancers and their quarterback Ben Yarow as Midshipmen defensive backs picked off three of Yarow's passes. Patrick McMahan (So., Windermere, Fla.), Ian Anderson (Sr., San Carlos, Calif.) and Carter Reading (Sr., St. Charles, Ill.) all recorded first half interceptions.

31 different Navy players recorded tackles on Friday night, including eight with four each. Of that group, Matt Chavez (Sr., Houston, Texas) notched a sack, Collin Ascherl (Sr., Granville, Iowa) forced a fumble and Reid Kaplan (Fr., Charleston, S.C.) had 1.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

The Mids scored early and often throughout the contest as Charles Crans (Jr., Camden, Maine), Deterding and Wellmon all found the end zone over the opening 9:27 of play. A 21-yard Deterding to Crans connection at 13:15 was the first career touchdown pass and catch for both players, respectively. After passing for a touchdown, Deterding made it a 14-0 game with a four-yard rush up the middle. Wellmon capped the opening offensive blitz with a four-yard rush of his own at the 5:33 mark.

An athletic spring by Deterding over a Lancer defender on the goal line at 3:33 was the final score for Navy in the first quarter. A member of the Navy track and field team his first two years at the Naval Academy, Deterding used his high jumping skills to vault himself towards the end zone and over a defender, who clipped his legs and caused an acrobatic mid-air somersault.

Up 27-0, Navy increased its lead by 17 points in the second quarter on two touchdowns and a Jules Murphy (Jr., Easton, Mass.) 26-yard field goal. The Mids' first score came courtesy of a one-yard punch in by Lavis on the ground at 10:55 before the team aired it out with a 24-yard connection from Wynne to Austin Rogers (So., Cottonwood, Ariz.). In all three instances these were the first career points for the respective players.

Navy replicated its 17-point output in the third quarter with two more touchdown rushes by Lavis and another Murphy field goal. After a 22-yard kick by Murphy was good at 12:47, Lavis took handoffs and found the end zone from one yard out at 9:32 and six yards out at 1:41.

With the score 61-0, the fourth quarter saw the pace of play slow down and only 10 combined points go on the scoreboard. Lavis capped his stalwart debut with a fourth touchdown at 3:57 to make it 68-0 before a 27-yard field by Longwood's Danny Janousek ended the shutout with 10 seconds remaining.

For the game, Navy outgained Longwood, 414 to 119 and held the Lancers to just a 1.8-yards per play average. On the ground, the Mids outrushed the Lancers, 286 to -29.

Navy will begin the CSFL portion of its schedule next Saturday, Sept. 26 with a road matchup at Mansfield. Kickoff between the Mids and Mounties is scheduled for 1 p.m.