ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy sprint football team (2-0) posted a 49-0 shutout over Cornell (1-1) on a rainy Friday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in the Midshipmen's home opener. The offense amassed nearly 600 total yards, while the defense picked off five passes and held the Big Red to less than 100 yards of total offense in the win.
"It was a great home opener," head coach
Captain Carter Reading, USMC said after the game. "I was proud of the way the team came out and was able to play a good game despite the wet conditions. We committed too many penalties, but we were able to do some positive things this game. We played better than we did in the season opener, but we've got some work to do for next week."
As a team, the Midshipmen rushed for 448 yards, while passing for 148 yards to finish with 596 yards of total offense.
Hunter Gennicks led the team with 158 yards rushing with three touchdowns on the day, while
Broderick Freeman finished with 124 yards on the ground and a TD. Additionally,
Luke O'Connell rushed for a score.
At quarterback,
Luke Wagner finished the game 10-for-16 for 144 yards passing with a touchdown.
Chris Stumpf led the receiving corps with four catches for 71 yards and a score.
Jackson Suddath and Gennicks added to catches apiece for 35 and 23 yards.
Defensively, the Midshipmen tallied 58 total tackles, including 8.0 tackles for loss with 4.0 sacks and five interceptions.
Jake Wolinski led the team with eight tackles, while
Connor Miltenberger added six stops, including a team-high 2.5 TFL with a sack.
Simon Burger,
James Wright, and
Tyler Meisenzahl each added sacks.
Christian Conley,
Sam Stotler,
Owen Erker,
Angelo Pearson, and
Caleb Lyles picked off Cornell passes on the day with Lyles returning the INT for 31 yards.
Kicker
Jacori Sutton finished the game with three field goals and four extra points made for 13 total points. The freshman split the uprights from 22-, 32-, and 29-yards on the day.
Navy got the ball rolling in the first quarter, scoring three touchdowns in the opening frame. The Mids used an interception to obtain the ball for their first drive. Gennicks capped the five-play, 47-yard drive with a 32-yard jaunt into the checkerboard end zone. The Midshipmen used a second INT to once again get the ball at the Big Red 47-yardline, scoring again on a five-play drive that ended with Wagner connecting with Stumpf on a 27-yard touchdown strike. Navy pushed the advantage to three scores as Gennicks pounded through the defense for 50 yards for his second TD run of the game. The extra point try was no good, leaving the Mids in front, 20-0 through one quarter of play.
In the second quarter, the Midshipmen added a pair of field goals to extend the advantage to 26-0. Sutton was true from 22 yards out for his first field goal of the day. With 44 ticks remaining in the first half, Sutton set a new season-best, converting a 32-yard field goal try.
The second half saw the Mids used the ground game to wear down the clock and put the game out of reach. Gennicks notched his second 50-yard touchdown strike of the game hammering the defense for 51 yards into the end zone for his third score of the game. Sutton capped a seven-play drive that chewed up over seven minutes of game clock with a 29-yard field goal to push the advantage to 35-0. Freeman notched his first collegiate touchdown with a 23-yard rush to give he home team a 42-0 lead.
In the fourth quarter, the Midshipmen used a 13-yard score by O'Connell and solid defense to preserve the shutout and provide the final margin of 49-0.
The Mids return to action on Friday, Oct. 4, as Navy hosts Army in the annual Star Game. The game, which is part of the overall Army-Navy Star Series, presented by USAA, is slated for 7:00 p.m. at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. It will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats will be available.
