Navy Defeats Penn, 56-7, in Battle of CSFL's Two Unbeaten Teams

The Midshipmen claim at least a share of the league title with Friday night's win

	D.J. Green threw for two scores and ran for two more in Friday's victory

Oct. 26, 2007

Final Stats

PHILADELPHIA - Navy sprint football quarterback D.J. Green (Jr./Indianapolis, Ind.) threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more as the Midshipmen topped Penn, 56-7, in a contest between the league's top-two teams on Friday evening at Franklin Field.

The Midshipmen maintained their perfect record on the year, as they improved to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in CSFL play. The Quakers suffered their first league loss of the year to fall to 3-2 overall and 2-1 in league action.

With Friday night's victory, the Midshipmen captured at least a share of the CSFL Championship this year, their 32nd league title in the program's 62-year history. Navy will battle Army (2-4, 1-2 CSFL) in the Star Game next Friday night for a chance to claim the league crown outright, while Penn needs to defeat Princeton (0-5, 0-3 CSFL) and a Navy loss to Army in order to share the CSFL title with the Mids.

"Tonight was a good win, but now our biggest challenge lies with our game against Army next week," stated Navy head coach Maj. Jake Jenkins, USMC. "We came into the year with the goal of solely winning the league title, which we can do with one more win."

Despite the rainy conditions, Green engineered an offense that accumulated 553 yards and 26 first downs. Through the air, Green connected on 14-of-27 passes for 178 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. The Navy signal caller also used his legs to collect a career-best 68 yards on the ground via 13 carries with two touchdowns.

"D.J. really played a great game," said Jenkins. "He made several reads at the line of scrimmage which helped us in getting first downs at critical points. Even with the wet conditions, he threw the ball quite well tonight."

Accounting for 370 of its 553 yards on Friday was Navy's rushing attack, which came into the contest averaging a league-best 287.5 yards per game. Richard Engel (Sr./Medford, N.J.) led the Midshipmen with 111 yards on 22 carries and found the endzone in the second quarter. Engel's rushing touchdown upped his career total to 23, matching the program record held by Matt Sobecki (1994-97). Fellow running backs Enrique Harris (Jr./Crawfordville, Fla.), Nate Stewart (So./Fitzgerald, Ga.) and Steve Benson (So./Ellenwood, Ga.) all scored touchdowns and ran for 76, 63 and 53 yards, respectively.

Offensive team captain Todd Barriger (Sr./Prescott, Mich.) led the team with four catches for 60 yards, while fellow wide receiver Tommy Tellson (Jr./Bedford, Texas) corralled three passes for 19 yards.

Navy's defense, which came into Friday's game leading the CSFL in total defense (166.8 yards per game) and scoring defense (9.8 points per game), held Penn's offense to 121 yards, only 35 in the second half, and forced four turnovers. The Mids recorded eight tackles in the backfield, three sacks and three pass breakups. The CSFL's leading rusher, Rob Lombardi, was contained for just one yard in 15 carries by the Midshipmen defense.

Linebackers Chris Combellick (Jr./Carmel, Ind.), Tyler Hawkins (So./Canyon Country, Calif.) and defensive lineman Justin Nabozna (Jr./New Fairfield, Conn.) led the Mids with six tackles apiece. Combellick, defensive backs Jason Campbell (Jr./Kansas City, Mo.) and Hunter Armour (Sr./Malibu, Calif.) all picked off a pass, while defensive lineman Kyle Hayhurst (So./Pleasanton, Calif.) recovered a fumble, made a sack and tallied five tackles.

"The defense gave us another tremendous performance tonight," stated Jenkins. "They flew around, hit hard and played with a lot of passion. The defense really takes pride in coming up with stops at key points in the game, which is what they did this evening."

After a scoreless first quarter, Navy capitalized off a Campbell interception to record the game's first points, an 18-yard pass from Green to tight end Gaetano Bettinelli (Jr./St. Helena, Calif.). Following a Penn turnover on downs, the Midshipmen marched down the field on a 12-play, 67-yard drive, capped by an Engel four-yard scoring scamper. The Mids defense forced a three-and-out on the next possession before the guests struck again, a 29-yard strike from Green to tight end Karl Motoyama (Jr./Honolulu, Hawai'i), to make the score 21-0.

Penn's only points of the game came on a Navy miscue with less than a minute remaining in the first half. The Quakers recovered a Navy fumble on a punt return at the eight-yardline with 24 seconds left in the half and scored on a Mike D'Angelo run on their first play to pull within 21-7 going into the break.

However, the Midshipmen bounced back in the third quarter with a 13-play, 58-yard drive that took up 6:33 before Green reached pay dirt from one yard out to push the advantage back to 21 points at 28-7.

Navy's offense broke the game open in the final stanza with a 28-point performance. Harris made the score 35-7 with a 38-yard scoring scamper, followed by a Stewart 54-yard touchdown run three minutes later. Green would then register his second rushing touchdown of the night, a one-yard run, before Benson broke free for a 33-yard touchdown run to cap off the scoring.

Navy's 32 CSFL Championships are the most among any school in league history, two more than Army's second-best total of 30 league titles. The Midshipmen have earned at least a share of the league crown in five of the last-seven seasons.