Mids race right past Cougars in shootout

FB Carothers rushes for 188 yards, 5 touchdowns

HOUSTON — Navy has been involved with several wild, back-and-forth shootouts since joining the American Athletic Conference in 2015.

This one topped them all.

Navy and Houston marched up and down the field with impunity from start to finish, piling up the yards and points at an astounding rate. Defense was optional.

In the end, Navy’s dynamic duo of quarterback Malcolm Perry and fullback Jamale Carothers managed to out-duel Houston quarterback Clayton Tune and his deep corps of dangerous receivers.

Carothers established career-highs by rushing for 188 yards and five touchdowns, while Perry accounted for 253 total yards from scrimmage as Navy outlasted Houston, 56-41, before an announced crowd of 22,824 at TDECU Stadium.

Carothers, a converted slotback with rare finishing speed for a Navy fullback, was unstoppable off the trap play that has become his signature. The 5-foot-9, 203pound sophomore scored on runs of 8, 17, 19, 29 and 75 yards, while setting up a sixth touchdown with a 47-yard reception late in the fourth quarter.

Perry rushed for 146 yards and a touchdown for Navy (9-2, 7-1), which continued the biggest single-season turnaround in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Perry added 107 passing yards on just two completions as the Mids escaped with their first win at TDECU Stadium since becoming a member of the American.

Tune completed 23 of 35 passes for a career-high 393 yards and four touchdowns for Houston (4-8, 2-6), which led 7-0 early and amazingly never did so again. Wide receiver Marquez Stevenson collected eight catches for 133 yards and two touchdowns for the Cougars, who never punted.

The teams combined for 97 points and 1,081 yards. Navy finished with 554 total yards, while Houston had 527.

Navy’s defense made just a few more plays, coming up with four interceptions. Inside linebacker Carton Bankston, cornerback Micah Farrar as well as safeties Kevin Brennan and Evan Fochtman all had picks for the Mids and those turnovers were the difference.

Navy defensive coordinator Brian Newberry called for a safety blitz on thirdand-2 on the game’s opening possession. Houston had the perfect call to counteract that blitz with Tune throwing a rocket screen to the side of the field the safety had vacated.

Wide receiver Tre’von Bradley turned the short pass into a 67-yard touchdown.

Perry broke loose for a 54-yard gain off a scramble to jump-start Navy’s opening possession. That set up a 13-yard touchdown burst by Carothers that tied the score at 7.

And on and on it went.

Jacob Daulong muffed a short directional kickoff by Bijan Nichols and Navy cornerback Noruwa Obanor was right there to recover the fumble at the Houston 28-yard line. Four players later, Carothers broke through a big hole off the left side and scored his second touchdown from 17 yards out.

That 14-7 Navy lead was short-lived as Houston marched 75 yards in 10 plays to retie the score. Carr turned the corner on a 5-yard scoring scamper to make it 14-14 with 2:13 remaining in the first stanza.

Navy needed just two plays and 39 seconds to regain the advantage. Slotback Keoni-Kordell Makekau made a difficult over-the-shoulder catch of a deep bomb from Perry for a 60-yard gain on first down. Perry then took a keeper the remaining 15 yards to make it 21-14 with 1:34 to go.

This was a night when explosive pay was met with explosive play and Houston responded immediately with Tune rolling out of the pocket to buy more time then connecting with wide receiver Courtney Lark on a 52-yard pass. Lark, who was being covered by outside linebacker Nizaire Cromartie, changed his route after seeing the quarterback scramble and was wide-open along the right sideline.

A 5-yard scoring strike from Tune to Stevenson forged a 21-21 deadlock.

When Navy’s Owen White was forced to punt at the 11:22 mark of the second quarter, it seemed like a major momentum change. Neither team had punted up until that point and Houston was handed an opportunity to retake the lead.

However, momentum swung back in Navy’s favor on the next play as inside linebacker Carton Bankston intercepted a short pass and returned the ball 9 yards to the 3-yard line. Bankston read screen pass perfectly and dropped back into the area where Tune wanted to throw.