‘A great, great win’ in critical game
Mids closer to earning berth in AAC championship game
Will Worth is developing into an outstanding triple-option quarterback right before our eyes.
Worth put forth a command performance in leading 24th-ranked Navy to a 42-28 victory over Memphis in a critical American Athletic Conference game Saturday.
An announced 35,943 watched Worth lead a dominant offensive effort as the Midshipmen had 532 total yards and took command of the West Division race.
Worth set career highs by rushing for 201 yards and three touchdowns while doing a brilliant job of directing the triple-option. The senior signal-caller also completed three of four passes for 85 yards and two scores for Navy (5-1, 4-0), which took a big step toward earning a berth in the AAC championship game.
“A great, great win by our team. That is a great football team we just played,” Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said. “Just proud of the way our kids fought. There were a lot of ups and downs, ebbs and flows in that game. Just the resolve that our young men showed. We feel very fortunate to come out of here with a win.”
Slotback Dishan Romine ran for 92 yards on just seven carries while fullback Chris High contributed 72 rushing yards and wide receivers Tyler Carmona and Jamir Tillman caught touchdown passes of 18 and 15 yards for the Midshipmen, who own a tiebreaker over the other top contenders in the West, Houston and Memphis.
“It means we move on. That’s the approach we have to take,” Niumatalolo said. “If we start patting ourselves on the back or reading our press clippings, we set ourselves up for failure.”
Navy, which travels to South Florida for a Friday night matchup, has four league games remaining and can afford at least one loss. “We have set ourselves up to control our own destiny,” Niumatalolo acknowledged.
Worth was Navy’s third-string quarterback as a sophomore and junior, getting into games only as the holder on kicks. The Florida native was expected to fill that role again as a senior until starter Tago Smith suffered a season-ending knee injury in the opener.
“That’s what this school is all about. Here’s a kid who was a backup and now he’s doing great things. It gives you so much pride,” Niumatalolo said.
Memphis seemed intent on taking away the fullback dive and was forced to start flowing defenders to the perimeter after Navy got some big gains early on the slotback pitch. That provided openings for Worth, who averaged 6.5 yards on 31 carries.
“With the triple-option, we take what we can get. Today, the quarterback run game was there, so we had to take advantage of that,” Worth said. “It was just a matter of executing the game plan.”
Quarterback Riley Ferguson completed 25 of 40 passes for 333 yards and two touchdowns for Memphis (5-2, 2-1), which lost to Navy for the second straight season. Wide receiver Anthony Miller had nine catches for 134 yards and a score for the Tigers, whose problems in the red zone continued.
“We have to do a better job of capitalizing on our opportunities. We got down to the 1-yard line and didn’t score, then we missed a field goal,” Memphis coach Mike Norvell bemoaned. “That’s six to 10 points that we left on the board there.”
Navy knew it needed to dominate the time of possession and did so, 39:48 to 20:12. The Mids had a season-high 447 rushing yards while setting a record with their 14th consecutive victory at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
“That was our game plan. That’s always been our calling card. We try to limit possessions,” said Niumatalolo, whose team put together four touchdown drives that lasted between 51⁄2 and six minutes. “All these up-tempo teams are used to getting a lot of possessions, are used to other teams going fast. We want to be methodical and eat the clock.”
Josiah Powell had a team-high nine tackles, while fellow outside linebacker D.J. Palmore had two sacks and a tackle for loss to lead the Navy defense, which forced two punts, a turnover on downs and a fumble.
Memphis trailed by a touchdown with 5:40 left in the game when it got the ball back at the 20 after a missed field-goal try by Bennett Moehring. Navy cornerback Elijah Merchant ended that potential gametying drive by forcing a fumble, which defensive end Tyler Sayles recovered.
“I thought we played with a lot of effort and a lot of toughness,” Navy defensive coordinator Dale Pehrson said. “We played hard and we played physical, which is what we needed to do in order to have a chance against that offense.”
A wild first half ended with Navy holding a 21-14 lead as Worth rushed for 119 yards and a touchdown. The Mids had 243 rushing yards before the half.
It didn’t take long for Memphis to strike first as Ferguson directed a 75-yard touchdown drive that took just 21⁄2 minutes. Miller beat cornerback Elijah Merchant badly to get open in the end zone for a 33-yard scoring strike.
Navy answered on its opening possession, with Worth directing a drive that took 61⁄2 minutes off the clock. Carmona kept the drive alive by recovering a fumble by High at the 4-yard line. White ran in from there to tie the score at 7 at the 6:30 mark of the first quarter.
The Mids got the ball to start the second half and proceeded to make it a twotouchdown game. Worth scored from 4 yards out to cap a 75-yard drive that took 11 plays and lasted almost six minutes and increased the lead to 28-14 at the 9:14 mark of the third period. Memphis Navy FIRST QUARTER MEM: Miller 33 pass from Ferguson (J.Elliott kick), 12:26 NAV: Shaw.White 4 run (Moehring kick), 6:30 MEM: Pollard 100 kickoff return (J.Elliott kick), 6:17 NAV: Tillman 15 pass from Worth (Moehring kick), :42 SECOND QUARTER NAV: Worth 3 run (Moehring kick), 1:19 THIRD QUARTER NAV: Worth 4 run (Moehring kick), 9:14 MEM: Hurd 9 pass from Ferguson (J.Elliott kick), 5:42 NAV: Carmona 18 pass from Worth (Moehring kick), :02 FOURTH QUARTER MEM: P.Taylor 7 run (J.Elliott kick), 10:21 NAV: Worth 1 run (Moehring kick), 2:01 TEAM STATS 14 14 0 7 7 14 MEM 7 7 — — 28 42 First downs 24 27 Rushes-yards 31-98 74-447 Passing 333 85 Comp-att-int 25-40-0 3-4-0 Return yards 154 29 Punts-avg. 2-41.5 2-34.5 Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-0 Penalties-yards 3-25 3-20 Time of poss 20:12 39:48 RUSHING: Memphis, Dorceus 8-41, Henderson 9-35, P.Taylor 4-18, Pollard 2-15, Ferguson 8-(minus 11). Navy, Worth 31-201, Romine 7-92, High 16-72, Bonner 4-22, Jos.Brown 2-16, Shaw.White 6-15, T.Walker 2-10, Cass Jr. 4-10, Gulley 2-9. PASSING: Memphis, Ferguson 25-40-0-333. Navy, Worth 3-4-0-85. RECEIVING: Memphis, Miller 9-134, Hurd 5-78, Pollard 4-26, Mayhue 3-43, Dykes 1-30, Magnifico 1-9, Proctor 1-8, P.Taylor 1-5. Navy, Bonner 1-52, Carmona 1-18, Tillman 1-15. MISSED FIELD GOALS: Memphis, J.Elliott 47. Navy, Moehring 32|