ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Andrew Margiotta (Vienna, Va.) registered a school-record 250 yard receiving, while tallying three touchdowns as Navy sprint football (4-0) posted a 55-0 shutout over Cornell (0-3) on Friday night at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
 
"Our last three games, we have been successful running the ball so we wanted to make it an emphasis tonight to balance our attack," head coach Major Alfonso Meidus, USMC said after the game. "We were able to spread the ball around and Margiotta was able to make some big, dynamic plays for us. We were able to get him comfortable; get the quarterback comfortable; and take control of the game. I thought we struggled early running the ball, but we made some halftime adjustments and made sure that we were able to run the ball more effectively in the second half.
 
"I am extremely proud of how the team competed tonight. It was a total team win."
 
Margiotta set the Navy record in receiving yards on five catches, averaging 50.0 yards per reception. The junior finished with three touchdowns, including TD catches of 70, 69, and 89 yards. Margiotta finished the first half, tying the school record with 241 yards receiving, breaking the previous mark that was set by Matthew Hite ('16) at Army in 2015 with a nine-yard reception in the third quarter.
 
Marco Pezzini (Salinas, Calif.) finished with four receptions for 35 yards, while Jobe Long (Bay City, Mich.) caught three passes for 33 yards. Jake Smith (Union, Ky.) added two catches for 22 and Tyron Francis Jr. (Middletown, R.I.) added an 11-yard touchdown reception.
 
Quarterback Brandon Atwood (Gentry, Ark.) finished the game 10-for-14 with 284 passing yards and three touchdowns. Luke Wagner (Edmond, Okla.) completed six passes for 67 yards and a touchdown in relief duty.
 
Manny Walt (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Alex Totta (Kansas City, Kan.) led the rushing attack. Walt finished with 68 yards on six carries and a pair of touchdowns, while Totta finished with 66 yards on the ground and a pair of TDs.
 
Defensively, Navy had 23 different players record tackles in the game, including posting 10 tackles for loss with five sacks, a forced fumble, three pass breakups, and an interception.
 
David Niski (Shelton, Conn.) finished the game with five tackles – all solo – with 4.0 sacks for 30 total yards, while also forcing a fumble. Paul Kuehler (Roanoke, Va.) led the team with six tackles, with a half a tackle for loss. Nicholas Campbell (Allentown, N.J.) also added five stops, notching 1.5 tackles for loss, including a sack. Jack Costigan (Middletown, N.J.) and Grant Wilson (Knoxville, Tenn.) each finished with five tackles. Jonathan Swift (Philadelphia, Pa.) finished with four tackles, including a tackle for loss and an interception, which he returned for 25 yards.
 
On special teams, Mychal Golden (Jonesboro, Ark.) finished with seven points, converting 7-of-8 point after attempts. Margiotta added 64 kickoff return yards to bring his all-purpose total to 314 total yards.
 
Navy wasted little time, scoring a touchdown on its opening drive. The Midshipmen capped a four-play, 83-yard drive with a 70-yard TD strike from Atwood to Margiotta, putting the home team in front 7-0. The Mids added to their lead as Totta pushed his way into the checkerboard end zone on a seven-yard run to cap a 12-play drive that spanned 59 yards. The extra point was off the mark, giving Navy a 13-0 advantage through one quarter.
 
In the second quarter, the Mids put together a pair of scoring drives that tallied three total plays and just 58 seconds. Atwood hit Margiotta for a 69-yard TD reception on a one-play drive, while the duo hooked up for 89 yards to finish a two-play 91-yard drive.
 
Leading 27-0, Navy added to its lead with three TDs in the third quarter. Totta used a 12-yard run for his second score, while Walt added a six-yard push into the end zone for his first TD of the game. Wagner connected with Francis for 11 yards into the checkerboard end zone to extend the advantage to 48-0 through three quarters.
 
Navy provided the final margin of victory in the fourth quarter as Walt crossed the goal line for his second score of the game.
 
The Mids defense limited the Big Red to just a pair of scoring opportunities. Cornell missed two field goals, hitting the cross bar and pushing the ball wide right. It was the first shutout of the season for Navy.
 
Navy returns to action on Friday, Oct. 21, as the Midshipmen welcome Penn to Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium for a CSFL South Division contest. Kickoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. and live stats will be available.