ANNAPOLIS — Navy's triple-option offense kept churning out points, even without Ricky Dobbs in charge.
The Midshipmen needed every one.
Backup quarterback Kriss Proctor ran 20 times for a career-high 201 yards and a touchdown, Alexander Teich rushed for two scores and Navy outlasted Central Michigan 38-37 on Saturday.
"Work hard all offseason, work hard all season and just wait for your shot," said Proctor, who made his third career start. "That's how it was today and we got it done."
Despite the lift Proctor provided, the Midshipmen had to sweat out the victory that clinched their eighth straight winning season, the longest streak at the academy since 1952-61. With 1:04 left and 80 yards away from a possible tie game, Central Michigan shredded Navy's prevent defense and scored.
The Chippewas (3-8) got within a point on Ryan Radcliff's 7-yard touchdown pass to Cody Wilson on fourth-and-2 with 4 seconds left. Central Michigan elected against kicking for a tie, and Radcliff's two-point conversion pass sailed over Kito Poblah, who was double-teamed by Navy's Wyatt Middleton and Kevin Edwards in the back of the end zone.
"We kind of knew what was coming," Middleton said. "That's kind of how we played it. Everybody did their job that last play."
Central Michigan coach Dan Enos said there was no doubt the Chippewas would go for the victory in regulation time.
"The whole team wanted to. I thought we had the momentum. ... I thought that was our best chance to win the game outright," Enos said.
Even though the Midshipmen (7-3) played without starting quarterback Ricky Dobbs, who sat out because of a concussion sustained last week at East Carolina, they didn't give the Chippewas defense much of a break. Proctor ran roughshod in Navy's fifth win in six games, handing Central Michigan its seventh loss in eight games.
"Unfortunately for (Proctor), he's behind the guy who's going to break every school record for a quarterback that we have," said Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo. "But it doesn't mean that ... Kriss isn't a good football player."
The Midshipmen had confidence in Proctor.
"He can run the ball as good as anybody else. Coming in, (there were) no extra nerves or anything like that," said offensive tackle Jeff Battipaglia. "We knew Kriss could take over the mantel at quarterback."
Down 24-21 early in the third quarter, Proctor scored on a 4-yard option keeper to put Navy ahead for good.
Radcliff was 36 of 58 for 394 yards and two touchdowns to David Blackburn. Zurlon Tipton ran for two touchdowns for the Chippewas, and his 1-yard run with 3:04 left in the game got Central Michigan within 38-31.
Enos was pleased with the way Radcliff responded when his receivers couldn't hold on to passes.
"(Radcliff) set his feet and threw the ball very well," Enos said. "We probably had seven or eight balls dropped (and) if you take those out, then he had an unbelievable day."
Coming off a 76-35 victory — its highest point total since 1919 — Navy rolled up 470 yards of total offense, but yielded 495 yards to the Chippewas.
"Third down killed us all game," said Niumatalolo, who watched the Chippewas go a combined 14 for 26 on third and fourth downs. "We had a hard time getting them off the field."
Teich lost a fumble on the game's second offensive play, but got a break when Central Michigan's David Harman pushed a 42-yard field goal attempt wide right. Navy then moved 75 yards on nine plays for a 7-0 lead. Aaron Santiago capped the drive by taking an option pitch to the left side 18 yards.
Central Michigan tied the game on a 15-yard pass from Radcliff to Blackburn with 4:53 left in the opening quarter, but Teich's 16-yard run, one play after a 28-yard end-around by Greg Jones, restored Navy's lead about 2 1/2 minutes later.
Tipton went 3 yards up the middle for a TD, tying the game on the third play of the second quarter. Navy then needed only 2:15 to march 80 yards, taking a 21-14 lead on Teich's 3-yard scamper with 11:34 left in the first half.
The Chippewas knotted the score on their next drive, with Blackburn hauling in a 15-yard pass and breaking two tackles. After Navy turned the ball over on downs at the Central Michigan 31 on its next series, Harmon's 41-yard field goal put the Chippewas ahead 24-21 with 30 second left in the half.
After giving the Mids a 28-24 lead with his TD run, Proctor reversed field for a 48-yard gain to set up a 6-yard touchdown run by John Howell. Navy has outscored its opponents 107-28 in the third quarter
Joe Buckley kicked a 35-yard field goal with 7:27 remaining in the game, making it 38-24.
Down by a touchdown with 1:04 remaining, Radcliff was 5 for 8 and accounted for all the yardage on an 80-yard drive that culminated in the TD pass to Wilson, who finished with 13 receptions for 126 yards.
No comments:
Post a Comment