ANNAPOLIS, Md.—Senior quarterback
Braxton Woodson rushed for a career-high 200 yards and three touchdowns, while Navy amassed 506 yards on the ground in a 42-15 season-opening victory over Towson Saturday afternoon before 32,654 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
Woodson carried the ball 23 times and averaged 8.7 yards per carry, scoring on runs of 38, eight and four yards. His 200 rushing yards were the most by a Navy player since
Blake Horvath rushed for 211 yards against Memphis on Sept. 21, 2024.
"I thought he ran the offense today and made good decisions," said Navy head coach
Brian Newberry. "I think Braxton's got a chance to be a really special player for us. The way they were playing us defensively today, they were pretty loose, so there wasn't a need to really throw the football. We kind of took what they gave us today and I'm proud of a lot of things that we did offensively."
Navy's 506 rushing yards on 73 carries were the 12th most in school history and the most since the Mids rushed for 559 yards against SMU on Nov. 11, 2017. The 73 rushing attempts tie for the eighth-most in school history and the most since 2022. Navy finished with 527 yards of total offense and 30 first downs, its most first downs since recording 32 against SMU in 2022.
"We're super fired up about that," said senior offensive lineman
Hoke Smith II. "That's a goal of ours, rushing for 500 yards a game. That's awesome. That's an offensive lineman's dream come true, getting to run the ball 73 times and going for over 500 yards. It doesn't get any better than that."
Navy (1-0) scored touchdowns on six of its nine possessions and controlled the football for 39:50 compared to just 20:10 for Towson (0-2). The Mids converted seven of 12 third downs and all three of their fourth-down opportunities.
After the Navy defense forced a three-and-out on Towson's opening possession, Woodson capped a six-play, 75-yard drive with a 38-yard touchdown run to give the Mids a 7-0 lead with 10:21 remaining in the first quarter.
Navy made it 14-0 on its next possession, marching 88 yards in nine plays. Senior running back
Vic Listorti capped the drive with a 35-yard touchdown run, the first touchdown of his career. Listorti, who entered the game with just three career carries, finished with career highs of 81 yards on 11 attempts.
Towson answered on the first play of the second quarter when quarterback Andrew Indorf connected with Aaron Enterline for a 48-yard touchdown. The extra point was missed, cutting Navy's lead to 14-6.
The Mids responded with an 11-play, 64-yard drive, with junior quarterback
Jackson Gutierrez scoring his first career touchdown on a three-yard run to extend the lead to 21-6 with 9:32 remaining in the half.
Towson struck back just 1:42 later when Indorf found Jacob Zollar for a 30-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion attempt failed, trimming Navy's advantage to 21-12.
Navy answered again just before halftime.
After forcing a Towson three-and-out, Navy took over at midfield with 2:12 remaining and drove 50 yards in eight plays. Woodson finished the drive with an eight-yard touchdown run with 24 seconds left, sending the Mids into the locker room with a 28-12 advantage.
The Mids then took control of the game with a methodical opening drive in the second half, marching 75 yards in 13 plays while taking 7:14 off the clock. Gutierrez capped the drive with a two-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 35-12.
"It's such a blessing to be able to score a touchdown and be able to play in that game," Gutierrez said. "Braxton got the ball down the field and I was lucky enough to punch it in the end zone. We did a lot of good things, and I'm super excited for next week."
Gutierrez finished with 31 yards and a career-high two touchdowns on eight carries. He and Woodson became the first pair of Navy quarterbacks to score multiple rushing touchdowns in the same game since Malcolm Perry scored twice and Zach Abey five times in Navy's 49-7 victory over Virginia in the 2017 Military Bowl.
Towson cut the lead to 35-15 on Zaydaan Faridi's 40-yard field goal with 3:14 remaining in the third quarter, but those would be the Tigers' final points.
Woodson completed his career day midway through the fourth quarter, scoring on a four-yard run to cap a 12-play, 65-yard drive that consumed 6:04 and gave Navy a 42-15 lead with 8:39 remaining.
Towson head coach Pete Shinnick came away impressed with Woodson.
"We knew containing their quarterback was going to be difficult and it turned out to be difficult," Shinnick said. "He's a very good player. We overran him a couple times, we were tight on him a couple times, he'll go inside or he'll go outside. You have to be perfect. Credit to him, credit to Coach [Drew] Cronic and his offense. They do an amazing job."
Navy's defense, meanwhile, held Towson to just 39 rushing yards on 20 carries and 246 yards of total offense. Junior linebacker
MarcAnthony Parker paced the defense with nine tackles, while senior cornerback Ira Oniha added six.
Marcus Bleazard,
Aiden Lyczek and
Connor Young recorded sacks.
"The run defense, everybody was just doing their job," Parker said. "We all just stayed in our gaps. Communication-wise, they came out a little different, stuff we expected, but I think for the most part, we did pretty good on the run defense. I think it's just communication that we have to be better on."
Indorf completed 13 of 18 passes for 208 yards and two touchdowns for Towson, but the Tigers converted just two of eight third downs and managed only three points after halftime.
Despite the 27-point victory, Newberry saw plenty for the Mids to correct before next week's game.
"There are things you worry about going into game one, some jitters and things like that that we certainly had a little bit today at times," Newberry said. "I thought defensively we were a little bit sloppy.
Some miscommunications, guys not getting the call.
"But I told the guys in the locker room, never get fooled by an outcome and think that we're something we're not because we got a way to go, and we just got to really continue to get better each week."
The victory gave Navy its third-consecutive season-opening win, marking the first time the Mids have won three straight openers since 2015-17. Navy also won four consecutive home openers for the first time since winning five straight from 2015-19.
The crowd of 32,654 was Navy's largest for a home opener since 36,208 watched the Mids play Delaware in 2013.
"Fired up about the crowd today," Newberry said. "At the walk, as many people as I've ever seen at a Navy game, and I thought the crowd was great. Appreciate everybody coming out to support us."
Navy will return to action next Saturday when the Mids travel to Boca Raton, Fla., to take on Florida Atlantic.
