Final Stats

RINDGE, N.H. - The Navy sprint football team overcame a tough opening 10 minutes to dominate Franklin Pierce on the road and improve to 2-0 on the young CSFL season. After falling behind 7-0 early in the first quarter and seeing their starting quarterback leave with an injury, the Mids outscored the Ravens (1-1), 54-6 over the final 50 minutes of play to earn the emphatic 54-13 victory on the road at Sedoxo Field.

Navy outclassed Franklin Pierce on both sides of the field as its offense rolled up 432 yards and six touchdowns, while its defense held the Ravens to 284 total yards and caused four turnovers, including two interception returns for touchdowns.

"We are happy with our win today but it came at a cost," remarked Navy head coach Major Jeff Polson, USMC. "We were already a little banged up coming in but today starters Nick Deterding and James Lieto came down with injuries that will keep them out for a few weeks. Deterding was injured on our first offensive play of the game."

Individually, the trio of QB Jon Saadey (Fr., Canfield, Ohio), RB Brendon Clements (Sr., Miami, Fla.) and WR JT Thompson (Fr., Stratham, N.H.) led the Mids' offense with strong performances from each of their respective positions. Coming in relief of the injured Nick Deterding (Sr., Lindsborg, Kan.), Saadey calmly took the reigns of the offense and went 11-17 with 186 yards and three touchdowns through the air, as well as for 61 yards rushing. One week after touching the ball 19 times for 119 yards and a touchdown, Clements improved his output with 23 touches, 168 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns. The senior rushed 22 times for 139 yards, in addition to making one 29-yard catch. At the wide receiver position, Thompson saw his first significant college action and left his mark with four catches for 69 yards and a touchdown.

"Injuries to Deterding and Lieto not withstanding, the positive side of the situation is the fact that freshman Jon Saadey came in and was able to effectively move the offense after a few miscues with the support of a great effort from the offensive line and the hard running of Brendon Clements and Mac Lavis, who combined for almost 200 yards on the ground," said Polson. "The offensive play calling was well balanced. Although we dropped some passes and missed some reads, we are extremely pleased with our young receiving corps led by freshman JT Thompson, sophomore Miles Whitlow, and junior Matt Vogel."

On defense, Sheppard Wilson (So., Charlotte, N.C.), Kendall Mackey (Sr., Atlanta, Ga.), Rex Willis (Sr., Tyrone, Ga.) and Bryant Schlade (Jr., Napoleon, Ohio) provided numerous big plays for Mids. Wilson recorded a team- and career-high nine tackles in his first career start. In the fourth quarter, he put the exclamation point on his day with a 37-yard interception return for a touchdown. Mackey was the first Mid to return an interception for a score as he picked off a pass and took it in 92 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter. Willis and Schlade left their mark on the game as Willis tallied six tackles and an interception, while Schlade made seven stops.

"Defensively, we were challenged by Franklin Pierce," said Polson. "They came out swinging with an early score to take a 7-0 lead. They had a strong run game combined with some misdirection and speed on the edges and a dangerous pass game that kept us on our heels the entire game. It wasn't until late into the third quarter with a 35 -13 score and Franklin Pierce driving down the field that our defense came up with two important game changing turnovers that resulted in defensive touchdowns by Kendall Mackey and Sheppard Wilson. Without those plays, this game would have been extremely close deep into the fourth quarter."

The action on Saturday started off with Navy appearing a bit unsettled as the Mids were called for two penalties on the first series and lost Deterding due to injury on the third play of the game. After Navy punted the ball away on that first possession, the host Franklin Pierce squad drove down the field and scored the first points of the contest on a 26-yard Jose Melo touchdown pass.

Up 7-0 at the 9:57 mark of the first quarter, Franklin Pierce kept the pressure on Navy and forced the Mids to punt again after gaining 23 yards on six plays.

Sparked by its defense forcing a quick three-and-out, Navy's offense finally started gaining traction as the Mids used a short field and found the end zone at 3:22 as Clements scored the first of his three touchdowns. After initially getting stuffed in the middle, the senior re-directed himself and skipped out along the outside left edge that was wide open due the blocking of LT Kyle Robb (Sr., Coto de Caza, Calif.) and LG Jonathan Meier (Jr., Camarillo, Calif.) to score from 29 yards out.

With the offense starting to click with Saadey under center, Clements' touchdown was the first of four that Navy would score over a span of five possessions.

The Mids made it 14-7 on its next drive as the team went 78 yards on eight rushes. Clements capped the run-heavy drive as he bullied himself in from one yard out at 13:06.

Less than three minutes later at 10:13, the freshmen duo of Saadey and Thompson hooked up for a 52-yard pass completion for a touchdown.

On its final possession of the first half, Navy recorded its fourth straight unanswered touchdown as the Mids worked the field and clock to the tune of 13 plays and 71 yards over 6:18. Matt Vogel (Jr., Upper Saddle River, N.J.) was on the receiving end of Navy's fourth score as he went 17 yards into the end zone after Saadey evaded pressure and found him wide open in the middle of the field.

At the half, Navy had advantages in first downs, 11 to 6; rushing yards, 143 to 56; passing yards, 115 to 34 and total yardage 258 to 90. Those numbers were significantly different due to the Mids' dominant second quarter as the Ravens actually led the yardage battle, 73 to 63 at the end of the first.

With the score 28-7 coming out of the locker room, Navy quickly increased its lead as it forced a fumble on Franklin Pierce's second play of the half. Luke Coughlin (Jr., Islip, N.Y.) recovered the loose ball and gave the Mids a short field of just 30 yards to navigate. Five plays later, Clements was back in the end zone following a six-yard run for his third score of the game at 12:28.

The Ravens scored their final touchdown of the game at the 3:44 mark of the third quarter to make it 35-13.

Navy's defense started directly putting points on the scoreboard during Franklin Pierce's next drive as Kendall Mackey picked off a Melo pass in the red zone and returned it 92 yards for a touchdown and a 41-13 lead for the Mids. The interception return for a touchdown was the third of Mackey's All-CSFL level career.

A 44-yard touchdown pass-and-catch connection between Saadey and Miles Whitlow (So., Clemens, Ala.) was Navy's final offensive touchdown at 13:57.

Two plays after Whitlow's score, the Mids were back celebrating in the end zone as Wilson picked off another Melo pass attempt and returned it for a touchdown to make it 54-13 at 13:33.

A long 11-play, 79-yard drive by Navy down the stretch milked the majority of the clock in the fourth quarter to clinch the victory for the visiting Midshipmen.

For the game, Navy outgained Franklin Pierce, 432 to 284 in total yards with a 246 to 95 advantage in rushing yards. On 33 passing attempts, the Ravens outgained the Mids through the air, 189 to 186.

"I applaude Franklin Pierce," remarked Polson. "They are well coached by Pete Ewald and his staff and they are an extremely tough group of men that played hard to the final whistle.

"Overall, there were alot of lessons learned today and we have alot of things to correct, especially with ball security and turnovers. We had two fumbles and an interception, in addition to nine penalties for 71 yards."

After a 14-9 upset victory by Penn over Army West Point, the defending CSFL champions, on Friday night, the Mids and Quakers are the only two teams left in the CSFL with undefeated 2-0 records. The two teams atop the league standings will meet Oct. 7 in Philadelphia, but before then the Mids will first turn their attention to the Eagles of Post University this coming Friday night, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. Navy will welcome Post for its 2016 home opener at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.