Playing catch up
Totta rushes for 193 yards, 2 TDs as Midshipmen turn aside Black Knights to claim championship
Navy sprint football never blinked. Not after Army raced out to an early two-touchdown lead. Not after kicker Mychal Golden left valuable points on the field by banging field goal and extrapoint attempts off the goal post. Not after the Black Knights tied the score late in the fourth quarter just minutes after the Midshipmen moved ahead for the first time all game.
When the game was on the line and the pressure was the highest, Navy dug deep and displayed the heart of a champion.
Tailback Alex Totta rushed for 193 yards and two touchdowns to propel Navy to a 28-21 victory over archrival Army in the Collegiate Sprint Football League championship game on a wind-chilled Sunday afternoon in Annapolis.
Totta scored the game-winning touchdown in spectacular fashion — taking a pitchout, turning the corner and racing 41 yards down the right sideline to put the Midshipmen back on top with 1:51 remaining.
Army moved into Navy territory on the final drive of the game, but ran out of time after quarterback Mikal Willeke’s desperation pass fell incomplete.
Navy’s players and coaches stormed the field to celebrate a second consecutive undefeated season capped by the CSFL crown.
“What a game and what a win. All these guys played their hearts out,” said Totta, who was named the game’s Most Valuable Player. “We had a slow start, but we kept faith and stuck to our plan. We had no doubt we were going to impose our will and come out on top.”
Totta’s decisive score came off an option play the Mids had been practicing and saving for the right moment. Quarterback Brendan Atwood faked a handoff to a receiver coming in motion, then ran two-way option with Totta as the pitchman. After drawing a defender, Atwood dished the ball to Totta, who stiff-armed the safety to gain the edge.
“We had that option play we haven’t showed all season and it popped. Hat’s off to the hogs and the receivers for blocking, and it was perfect execution,” said Totta, who concluded the campaign with 1,113 rushing yards.
“We’ve been working on that play the last few weeks and we didn’t want to show it. The coaching staff couldn’t have made a better call in that situation.”
Wide receiver Andrew Margiotta caught six passes for 56 yards and a touchdown for Navy (8-0), which will carry a 16-game winning streak into the 2023 season. Atwood accounted for touchdowns running and throwing as the Mids overcame being shut out in the first and third quarters.
“Wow. What an amazing game, what an amazing rivalry. You could not have asked for a better game, just back-andforth,” said Navy coach Alfonso Meidus, a Marine Corps major. “They came out and put two big scores on us. We were down two touchdowns, but we had no doubt. We have belief in each other. We scrapped back and went ahead.”
Army did a nice job of mixing the pass and run in marching 75 yards in 11 plays for a touchdown to take a 7-0 lead with 4:15 left in the first quarter. Donovan Mannion got the drive going with back-to-back 13-yard runs, while Willeke completed four passes before scoring on a 3-yard scamper.
Navy managed only one first down on three possessions to start the game, and those early offensive struggles enabled Army to gain some separation. Traye Carson scored on a 24-yard run and suddenly it was 14-0 at the 10:40 mark of the second period.
The Midshipmen finally showed signs of life on their fourth possession, with Totta getting the run game going. After taking a sack for a loss of 7 yards, Atwood responded by throwing a strike to Margiotta for a 28-yard touchdown. Margiotta leaped high to snag the high pass over the head of the Army cornerback and held on while falling backward into the end zone.
Junior safety Dante Carrasco made a nice interception at midfield and that gave the Mids a short field. Totta broke loose for a 22-yard gain before being tackled just shy
of the goal line. Atwood dove over on the next play and the deficit was reduced to
14-13 at halftime.
Following a scoreless third quarter, Navy still trailed when it took possession with 12:30 remaining. Totta ran 10 times for 42
yards as the Mids methodically moved the ball downfield by playing bully ball. Totta converted on fourth-and-1 at the Army 13 and five plays later powered into the end zone from a yard out.
Needing a 2-point conversion to take a touchdown lead, the offensive staff made a nice play call with Atwood delivering a shovel pass to Scott Lombardi, who turned upfield and easily scored to make it 21-14 with 6:21 remaining.
“We stuck to our game plan. We’re a run-heavy team and sometimes it takes awhile to get that going,” Meidus said. “We have a phenomenal running back, phenomenal offensive linemen and an awesome quarterback who knows how to read the game. We just kept pounding it and wound up making some big plays.”
Linebacker Paul Kuehler recorded 10 tackles to lead the Navy defense, which limited Army to 127 total yards in the second half. Linebacker Jack Costigan and rover Chris Whiteman added nine tackles apiece.