Party crashed
East Carolina ruins Navy football’s Senior Day with field goal
Navy football just cannot put together a complete game during this disappointing season that just keeps getting worse.
For most of the season, the Midshipmen have been stout on defense, holding high-scoring opponents well below their scoring averages and giving themselves a chance to win.
However, the program’s once powerful triple-option offense had been mostly responsible for repeated close losses, ranking 125th out of 130 Football Bowl Subdivision schools with a scoring average of just 16.8 points.
On Senior Day in Annapolis, the tables turned at the wrong time and it was the defense that let down the Midshipmen.
Quarterback Holton Ahlers picked apart the defense from start to finish in leading East Carolina to a 38-35 victory over Navy before an announced crowd of 28,001 on Saturday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
Ahlers completed a 46-yard bomb to wide receiver Tyler Snead on the game’s final possession, and that set up a 54-yard game-winning field goal by kicker Owen Daffer as time expired. It was easily a career-long for Daffer, who had never even attempted a field goal of 50 yards or more.
It was a stunning turn of events for Navy, which was in position to send the seniors out on a winning note after taking an eightpoint lead at the midway mark of the fourth quarter.
Slotback Carlinos Acie took a pitchout 90 yards for a touchdown and moments later freshman Maquel Haywood followed with another explosive play by returning a kickoff 98 yards for a score as Navy took a 35-28 lead with 8:33 remaining in the game.
A defense that forced just one punt during the contest could not make that score hold up.
Ahlers was on target throughout and completed 27 of 32 passes for 405 yards and three touchdowns. Tailabck Keaton Mitchell ran for 94 yards and a score for East Carolina (7-4, 5-2 American Athletic Conference), which rolled up 563 total yards.
Acie finished with a career-high 155 rushing yards for Navy (2-8, 2-5), which wasted by far the best offensive performance of the season. Quarterback Tai Lavatai threw two short touchdown passes for the Midship
men, who finished with a season-high 382 total yards.
Both offenses moved up and down the field with relative ease during a high-scoring first half.
Ahlers was in complete command as East Carolina displayed tremendous balance in rolling up 298 total yards in the half. Ahlers was almost perfect passing the ball, going 11-for-12 for 197 yards and two touchdowns.
Mitchell accounted for 65 of 101 rushing yards for the Priates, who took a 24-21 lead into halftime. ECU put together touchdown drives of 75, 78 and 85 yards in the first half.
It was a surprisingly poor performance by a Navy defense that has been solid for most of the season. The Midshipmen gave up several chunk plays, including a 40-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Tyler Snead and a 23-yard run by Mitchell on the first play from scrimmage.
Navy’s only “stop” came when cornerback Jamal Glenn broke up a potential touchdown pass to wide receiver Audie Omotosho in the end zone. That forced East Carolina to settle for a 37-yard field goal by Daffer.
Meanwhile, Lavatai was on point directing the triple-option offense as Navy totaled 219 yards and scored touchdowns on all three of its first-half possessions. The Midshipmen opened the game with scoring drives of 78 yards in 10 plays and 75 yards in 11 plays that took a combined almost 12 minutes off the clock.
Navy only needed seven plays and 3:18 to move 70 yards for its third touchdown, which was capped by fullback Isaac Ruoss bursting through a big hole up the middle and raced untouched to paydirt.
That possession was helped along by a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on linebacker Xavier Smith for a late hit out of bounds.
Ruoss scored on a season-best 19-yard run to give Navy its first lead of the game, 21-17, with 3:18 remaining in the first half. That turned out to be more than enough time for East Carolina to answer.
Navy freshman cornerback Elias Larry lost wide receiver C.J. Johnson along the right sideline and the resulting catch-and-run went for 54 yards and put East Carolina in the red zone. Moments later, coach Mike Houston went for it on fourth-and-2 from the 5-yard line and Ahlers found tight end Ryan Jones wideopen in the end zone to put the Pirates ahead at halftime.
It seemed a significant turn of events came at the start of the second half when the Navy offense missed a turn and was forced to punt on the opening possession. It marked the first possession of the game in which either team failed to score.
However, the Navy defense prevented that initial defensive stop from proving a major turning point by making a gutsy goal-line stand. East Carolina went for it on fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line for the second straight possession and the play call was pretty much the same with Ahlers throwing over the middle into the end zone.
This time, Navy linebacker Nicholas Straw hurried Ahlers and his pass was off target and out of the reach of Omotosho.
After an exchange of punts, Acie provided the type of explosive play the Midshipmen have been missing all season. It was a counter option play with wide receiver Mychal Cooper and Warren delivering key blocks, springing Acie for a 90-yard touchdown run.
Acie accelerated through the opening on the left side then turned on the jets, outracing several chasing defenders for the fifth-longest play in program history and giving Navy a 28-24 advantage at the 14:03 mark of the fourth quarter.
After going for it on fourth down four times during the game, Houston made a curious decision by settling for a field goal while trailing by four midway through the fourth quarter. With the Pirates facing fourth-and-1 from the 7-yard line of the Mids, the third-year coach chose to take the sure points and Daffer booted a 25-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 28-27 with 8:47 remaining in the game.
That decision came back to haunt Houston just moments later when Haywood brought the ensuing kickoff all the way back. The speedster plebe made two defenders miss then switched on the afterburners in flying down the left sideline 98 yards for a return that tied a school record.
East Carolina was undeterred by the sudden turn of events with Ahlers calmly leading a seven-play, 70-yard touchdown drive that tied the score. Facing fourthand-4, Ahlers delivered a perfect strike to Snead, who beat a defender on a slant route then turned the short catch in a 28-yard touchdown.
The Pirates naturally went for 2 and Ahlers connected with Johnson to forge a 35-35 deadlock with 5:01 remaining in the game.
Navy had plenty of time to drive the field for a go-ahead touchdown or field goal, which seemed a distinct possibility considering the offensive success so far. Wide receiver Mark Walker looked like he would convert on third-and-seven in enemy territory, but cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian punched the ball out of his hands and the fumble that went out of bounds resulted in a net gain of just 2 yards.
Navy was forced to punt and that gave East Carolina an opportunity to kick the game-winning field goal.