WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Navy sprint football team (2-1) dropped a 10-3 decision to Army (3-0) in the annual Star Game, which is part of the overall Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA, on Friday evening at Michie Stadium in West Point, N.Y. The loss snapped a streak of four consecutive victories by the Midshipmen over the Black Knights.
"We just didn't do enough to win the game," head coach
Major Alfonso Meidus, USMC said after the game. "Our defense put us in position late in the fourth quarter with an interception, but we failed to take advantage. We will go through our normal post game process and get better for next week."
The game pitted two of the Collegiate Sprint Football League's best defenses against one another. The two teams played nearly even. Navy tallied 229 total yards of offense, while Army finished with 225 total yards. The Midshipmen finished with 90 yards passing compared to 64 by the Black Knights, while Army outrushed Navy, 161-139.
Navy won the time of possession battle by nearly a 2-to-1 margin. The Midshipmen held the ball for 39:30, while the Black Knights had the ball for 20:30.
The Midshipmen converted 10 of 17 third down conversions, while the Mids' defense held the Black Knights to just a 2-for-9 performance on third down.
Devyn Martin led the Navy defense with 12 tackles, including a team-best seven stops. Martin had one of the Mids three tackles for loss, while
Jack Costigan and
Angelo Labbe added TFLs.
Mitchell Waters picked off a Black Knight pass, while
David Niski was credited with a pass breakup. Additionally,
Trent Parker blocked an Army field goal attempt.
Starting quarterback
Brandon Atwood finished the game 10-for-21 for 90 yards with two interceptions. The senior added 41 yards rushing to finish second on the team in rushing behind
Victor Otero, who posted a team-high 88 yards on the ground.
Kai Sasaki led the team with four receptions for a team-high 33 yards, while
Chris Stumpf and
Jobe Long added 14 and 18 receiving yards, respectively.
Mychal Golden scored the only points of the night for the Midshipmen, nailing a 24-yard field goal in the second quarter. The senior placekicker attempted a 45-yard field goal just before halftime, but the ball was just off the mark.
The two teams relied heavily on defense throughout the entire game. The Midshipmen were the first team to scratch the scoreboard as Golden drilled a 24-yard field goal with 6:07 on the clock in the second quarter to put the Mids in front, 3-0. Army knotted the score at 3-3 as Alex Perine connected on a 34-yard field goal attempt with 93 ticks on the clock in the first half.
In the fourth quarter, the Midshipmen were driving and taking time off of the clock. The drive was nine plays and chewed up five minutes of game clock before an interception gave the Black Knights the ball. Two plays later, the Navy defense came up big with an interception to thwart Army's offensive efforts, picking off the Black Knights' pass at the 35-yardline. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty pushed the ball back to midfield. Two plays later, the home team once again picked off an Atwood pass attempt, setting up the Black Knights at the Mids' 47-yardline. Army capitalized on the second turnover, capping a four-play scoring drive with a 23-yard run into the end zone by Arthur Lavalais with 47 seconds remaining in regulation.
On the ensuing kickoff, Otero returned the pooch kick two yards to the 31-yardline. Atwood connected with Sasaki for 18 yards to get a yard away from midfield. Unfortunately, the Midshipmen would get no closer as four straight incompletions ended the Navy comeback attempt.
Navy returns to action next weekend as the Midshipmen host Caldwell on Friday, Oct. 13 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 6:00 p.m. and live stats will be available throughout the game.
