Navy once again showed why it is a perennial powerhouse in the Collegiate Sprint Football League, dominating the Quakers in a 56-0 rout that put Penn’s hopes for a second-straight conference title in jeopardy.
The heavy rain Friday night hampered both passing attacks, as the Quakers threw 20 times for a meager 16 yards, while Navy managed just 59 yards in the air.
The ground game, however, told a completely different story. The Midshipmen’s running backs torched the Quakers (2-1) for 389 yards and six touchdowns, including four scores by sophomore running back David Williams.
Penn’s running attack, however, barely made it beyond the line of scrimmage, netting a total of just three rushing yards. Freshman running back Mike Beamish contributed to Penn’s effort in another way, punting 11 times, including a career-long 55-yarder.
“I was very disappointed in the fact that we didn’t play the way I thought we could play,” coach Bill Wagner said on the loss. “We certainly broke down right from the beginning.”
One of the few bright spots for the Quakers was the special teams play by Whit Shaw, who returned six kicks for 133 yards, including a 44-yard run in the closing minutes of the game.
The team has a bye week to recover from the Navy pounding before taking on Post.
The loss particularly stings, though, because the Quakers’ title run last year was predicated on their upset of Navy. Penn’s 24-14 win over Navy in the Allegiance Bowl last October, handed the Midshipmen their first defeat in 25 games.
Now Penn will most likely have to win out and hope for the Midshipmen to fall to Army.
“If we run the table and Army beats Navy, anything can happen,” Wagner said. “So our season’s not done.”
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