Final Stats

PHILADELPHIA - In a matchup of the last two remaining undefeated teams in the Collegiate Sprint Football League, overtime was necessary to decide a victor in the Navy-Penn matchup on Friday night. Tied at 23 at the end of regulation, the Penn Quakers (4-0) were able to score first in overtime and then come up with a turnover on Navy's possession to defeat the Mids (3-1) by a score of 29-23 at Franklin Field.

The tight result on the scoreboard was backed up with an extremely tight outcome in statistics as Penn outgained Navy by 18 yards at 404 to 386. Both teams had 21 first downs with the host Quakers running one more play than the Mids, 73 to 72.

"What a game!" remarked head coach Major Jeff Polson, USMC. "The ups and down of that game was something else. I'm really proud of the toughness that our team showed both physically and mentally. Our players were resilient and showed an excellent will to win. We were in position to come away with the victory, but the difference was execution on a few plays that we've done hundreds of times.

"Offensively, we were able to move the ball when we needed to. We were in the red zone five times, which is tough to do against a really good Penn team, but two missteps with an interception and a fumble deep in their zone were difference makers in the final outcome."

Individually, senior co-captain QB Nick Deterding (Sr., Lindsborg, Kan.) came off the bench and played through an ankle injury to spark the Mids' offense. In just over two quarters of action, Deterding threw for 204 yards and two touchdowns on 11 of 21 passing attempts and rushed for another 36 yards on six rushes. JT Thompson (Fr., Stratham, N.H.) was the top receiving target for Deterding and starting quarterback Jon Saadey (Fr., Canfield, Ohio) as he corralled a career-high eight catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns. Matt Vogel (Jr., Upper Saddle River, N.J.) was also a key cog in Navy's offense with four catches for 65 yards. At running back, Brendon Clements (Sr., Miami, Fla.) was held fairly in-check with 69 yards on 22 carries.

"Nick had such a gutsy performance tonight," said Polson. "His ankle was still pretty injured and we were concerned about his health the entire time, but he was a warrior out there. He fought through the pain and really sparked the team. He hadn't taken any reps in practice all week, but he comes off the bench and the team really lit up with his presence. He made good throws and gave us a different look as he was able to break outside for a few rushes, bad ankle and all. His leadership out there tonight was invaluable."

Navy's defensive line highlighted the team's effort on Friday night as Bryant Schlade (Jr., Napoleon, Ohio), Eric Garmoe (Jr., Arlington Heights, Ill.) and Blake Papet (Sr., Forest, Va.) were credited with 27 tackles, with Schlade notching a team-high 11. Two of Papet's seven stops were sacks of Penn's quarterback Mike McCurdy. Tommy Guinan (Elmhurst, Ill.) recorded the Mids' lone caused turnover as he made a second quarter interception.

On special teams, Patrick McMahan (Jr., Windermere, Fla.) had a standout day as the Mids' kick returner. On four returns, McMahan registered 143 yards with a 96 of them coming on the first play of the game for a touchdown.

In a game that promised to be close throughout, the Mids started it with a bang as McMahan took the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown. The junior defensive back bounced off a few Penn tackles around the 20-yard line and darted diagonally through the middle of the field before pulling away from his prospective tacklers over the final 50 yards.

After the teams traded brief drives, the host Quakers' offense found its footing on its second possession with a lengthy 78-yard scoring drive to tie the game up at 7-7 at the 9:01 mark of the first quarter.

After the final nine minutes went scoreless, Penn got back on the scoreboard the first time it had the ball in the second quarter as the Quakers drove down the field 60 yards as a two-yard rush up the middle by Robert Diorio capped the drive and resulted in a touchdown.

Down 14-7, Navy tried to answer back immediately and turned in 13 play, 44-yard drive that was stymied late as Penn's Tom Tyrell intercepted a Saadey pass in the corner of the end zone with 2:41 left to play in the second quarter.

On a drive that could have likely ended the half, Penn continued going to the air and Navy made the Quakers pay as their quarterback, McCurdy was hit by a rush off the end by Schlade as he was releasing the ball. Consequently, the Penn pass fluttered wildly and Guinan picked off the errant pass for his first career interception.

Looking to spark the offense, Polson inserted Deterding back into the quarterback role and it paid immediate dividends for the Mids as the senior calmly navigated the field for an eight-play 75-yard drive over the final 1:15 of play. With just six seconds remaining, Deterding found a crossing Thompson across the middle of the end zone to knot the game at 14-14.

At the half, the stats illustrated how close the tie game was as Penn held a minute seven-yard advantage in total offense at 182 to 175.

In the third quarter, the Quakers controlled the possession and the scoreboard with 10:03 of the clock eaten up on two drives that resulted in nine total points. A field goal at 9:08 capped a 14-play drive, while a nine-play drive with a McCurdy touchdown at the end put the hosts up 23-14 with 42 left in the third period. Of note, an athletic block by Drew Dziwulski (Sr., Woodbine, Md.) during the PAT attempt caused the Quakers to record only six points on the touchdown.

Trailing by nine points with just 8:20 remaining in regulation and Navy in need of points, Deterding and Thompson connected for back-to-back lengthy gains of 42 and 38 yards, respectively. With the field flipped from the Navy 12 to the Penn 12, the Mids cut into their deficit with a 26-yard field goal by Jules Murphy (Sr., Easton, Mass.) at 6:29.

After Navy was able to force Penn off the field with minimal damage to the clock and no damage to the scoreboard, the scene was set for Deterding to rally the offense one more time. In a series of 11 plays, the senior quarterback led the Mids down the field from their own 32 for the game-tying touchdown. 13-plus yard gains to Dane Livengood (So., Treynor, Iowa), Vogel and Thompson twice, set up Navy at the two-yard line with 1:21 remaining. After two unsuccessful attempts to punch the ball in on the ground a quick out pattern by Thompson resulted in a three-yard touchdown with 24 seconds left in regulation. With the game tied at 23-23, the Mids were in line to go ahead, but a missed PAT kept the score deadlocked.

In overtime, Penn scored a touchdown on the first possession, but once again Dziwulski caused havoc on the PAT with his second blocked extra-point of the game. With ball and knowing that a touchdown and successful PAT would result in a walk-off victory, Navy moved down the field with ease as Clements picked up 17 yards on the first play of the Mids' drive. After Clements rushed for three and Deterding for one, Navy had third-and-goal from the three-yard line. A broken play that began with a tough snap to Deterding quickly unraveled and ended up with a rushed and forced handoff to Clements that was never handled cleanly. The loose ball was picked up by Penn's Chris Colavita and the game immediately went final at 29-23.

"You have to give a lot of credit to Penn," remarked Polson. "They are a great team with a real solid balance in their play calling. Mike McCurdy, their quarterback, is very talented and he posed a big issue of us. He was able to use the whole field with a variety of passing plays and then he could turn around and use his legs to gain yardage that way. They softened up our defense and putting up 400 yards was huge because it allowed them to sustain drives and use a lot of clock.

"All of that notwithstanding, our defense buckled down when we needed them the most. They came up huge in the fourth quarter when we were trying to come back. Their stops on the final two Penn drives directly set up our field goal and touchdown to tie the game up. I'm proud of that effort and the way they stepped up in crunch time."

For the game, Penn outgained Navy by a slim 18-yard margin, 404 to 386. The Mids held a 280 to 265 advantage in passing yards, while the Quakers out-rushed the Mids, 139 to 106.

The Mids will next be in action on Friday, Oct. 14 with the first of three straight home games at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Next Friday, Navy will host Chestnut Hill in the first-ever meeting between the two schools. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.