GREENVILLE, N.C.—Sophomore quarterback Braxton Woodson rushed for 125 yards and 2 touchdowns, while throwing for 165 yards and a touchdown to lead Navy (8-3, 6-2 in the American Athletic Conference) to a 34-20 victory over East Carolina (7-5, 5-3) In front of 35,663 fans at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in Greenville. The 458 yards by the Mids was the third-most this year.

The Navy defense was lights out, keeping the red-hot Pirate offense out of the end zone until 5:35 left in the contest.  The Mids held ECU to 4-18 on third and fourth down conversions (4-15 on third, 1-3 on fourth).

With the win, Navy will finish third in the AAC after being picked 11th in the preseason.

The two teams were scoreless at the end of the first quarter, thanks to the Navy defense who held ECU out of the end zone on two different occasions.  

The Pirates had the ball first and goal at the Navy 3 on its second possession, but Ira Oniha made a terrific pass breakup in the end zone on third down and ECU quarterback Katin Houser overthrew his receiver on fourth down.

After a Navy three-and-out and a rare poor punt by Riley Riethman, ECU was knocking on the door again inside the Navy 10, but the defense held again and ECU kicker Andrew Conrad missed the 30-yard field goal wide right.

East Carolina took a 3-0 lead with 9:47 left in the second quarter on a 35-yard field goal by Conrad. That score was set up when Navy freshman quarterback Jackson Gutierrez was hit and fumbled on a third down pass play, turning the ball over to the Pirates at the Navy 17.  The defense held ECU to -1 yard on 3 plays, forcing the field goal.

Navy started to move the ball late in the second quarter and drove the ball down to the ECU 16, but on fourth-and-one, Woodson was ruled short of the first down marker despite it appearing to the Navy sideline that the Pirates were in the neutral zone at the snap.

The Navy defense got the ball right back to the Mids and again they drove right down the field, the big play a 27-yard run by Woodson, but Woodson was knocked out of the game on the play thanks to a late hit by ECU D'anta Johnson.

Gutierrez took over and moved the Mids down to the 4, but he was stopped for no gain on first down, junior snipe Eli Heidenreich managed 3 yards on second down and then lost 3 yards on third down.  Junior Nathan Kirkwood then pulled the 21-yard field goal wide left and the Mids trailed 3-0 at the half.

Woodson returned at quarterback to start the second half and promptly drove the Mids 76 yards in 14 plays with junior snipe Brandon Chatman scoring from the 16 to give Navy a 7-3 lead with 6:55 left in the third quarter. The MIds were 3-3 on third downs on the drive.

Navy made it 14-3 on the very next drive as Woodson led a five-play, 57-yard drive capped off by a beautiful 36-yard touchdown run by junior snipe Heidenreich. Heidenreich ran left then cut clear across the field to his right and outran the Pirate defense to put the Mids up 11.

The Pirates cut it to 8 at 14-6 with 11:59 left on a 48-yard field goal by Andrew Conrad, but Navy answered right back as Woodson hit Nathan Kent with a 61-yard touchdown pass 3 plays later to give the Mids a 21-6 lead.

East Carolina finally got in the end zone with 5:35 left on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Houser to Winston Wright Jr. to make the score 21-13, but the Mids put the game away on the next possession as Woodson scored on a 38-yard run to make it 27-13 and then made it 34-13 on a 10-yard touchdown run that was set up by a Kyle Jacob interception.

The Pirates scored a meaningless touchdown with 1:30 left to make the final score 34-20.

Navy ran for 293 yards on the day, with Heidenreich adding 82 yards and the touchdown on 9 carries.  

Senior safety Rayuan Lane III led the Navy defense with 9 stops, while senior linebacker Colin Ramos added 8 and Jacob 7 to go along with his interception.

Navy will have a week off before taking on Army in the annual Army-Navy Game presented by USAA on Saturday, Dec. 14 at 3 PM at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Md.