Saturday, December 12, 2009

Army - Navy update

Navy took the opening drive of the second half into the end zone to give the Mids a 7-3 lead.

Army - Navy update

Army leads 3-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Army - Navy update

The Leapfrogs and Golden Knights are in the air. Awesome

Army - Navy update

It's a beautiful sunny day in Philadelphia. Forty-five minutes till kickoff. We're still waiting to see if the Golden Knights and Leapfrogs will be jumping into the stadium.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Ricky Dobbs has Record Day

By Trevor Replogle

Annapolis, MD – On a spirited Senior Day in front of over 34,000 fans, it was junior QB Ricky Dobbs that stole the show for the Navy Midshipmen.

Dobbs carried 26 times for 123 yards to lead the Navy running attack. More importantly for Dobbs and the Mids, he was able to find the end zone five times to set a new Naval Academy record for rushing touchdowns.

Dobbs broke the record of former quarterback Chris McCoy who had held the record of 20 TDs since 1997. McCoy was recently honored by being named to the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial All-Star team as a quarterback along with Kaipo-Noa Keheaku Enhada and former Heisman Trophy winner, Roger Staubach.

Dobbs scored the record breaking touchdown with 10:39 left in the fourth quarter, giving the Mids an insurmountable 28-12 lead.

Nearly ten minutes later, Dobbs broke his second school record.

Following a 31-yard completion to Bobby Doyle, Coach Ken Niumatalolo went against his assistant coaches and called Dobbs’ number again on the three yard line. Dobbs powered his way into the end zone and the record books again by scoring his 22nd touchdown of the year. That TD broke the record of most touchdowns scored in a season set by Bill Ingram in 1917.

“The kid is amazing,” said Niumatalolo. “I just wanted it (the record) to be over with.”

The defense wasn’t to be outdone by Dobbs or the Navy offense. Jabaree Tuani and Ross Pospisil led a spirited effort in keeping the Blue Hens out of the end zone.

“I can’t give enough credit to Delaware’s offense,” noted senior defensive captain Pospisil. “I guess we have been living by the bend but don’t break method on defense. That’s both good and bad, but we kept them out of the end zone in the first half.”

The Midshipmen defense held Delaware to four consecutive field goals between the first and third quarters. Two of those field goals came with Delaware inside the Navy ten yard line. One other field goal was forced following a Navy fumble in which Delaware started at the Navy 19.

Penn State transfer, Pat Devlin was able to lead the Delaware offense to their only touchdown with 6:29 remaining in the fourth quarter. Devlin finished the game 17 for 26 with 194 yards passing. He was sacked two times.

The second of those sacks by sophomore defensive end Jabaree Tuani may have been the turning point in the game for the Mids.

Coach Niumatalolo agreed, “It was a huge play. I’d say it was the play of the game. It was a back and forth battle, but that play allowed us to get some breathing room with our offense.”

Delaware was still very much in the game when Tuani sacked Devlin, forced a fumble and recovered it with just over 12 minutes left in the game.

“That’s like scoring a touchdown for an offensive player,” smiled Tuani. “I was just playing for the seniors. It was important for us to win for them, so I was just playing like it was my last game here as well.”

Four plays later Dobbs found the end zone in his first of two record-breaking scores.

After running only 22 plays in the first half, the Midshipmen took over in the second half. The Mids had five possessions and scored four touchdowns – all by Dobbs and all three yards or less.

Navy was happy to avoid the letdown following a big win over Notre Dame and a week off before heading to Hawaii.

“I couldn’t be more excited (for a week off),” remarked Niumatalolo. “We have a chance for the guys to get acclimated in Bancroft Hall and go over what is important there, and they have a chance to get some studying done. Then in two weeks we’re going to the Islands. Personally, I am excited about that.”

Navy wraps up the season with a trip to Hawaii in two weeks followed by the Army-Navy game on December 12. Navy then concludes the season with a trip the Texas Bowl on December 31.

Record Day for Dobbs

Ricky Dobbs is having a record day at Navy Marine Corps Memoral Stadium. Dobbs has rushed for four TDs giving him 21 rushing TDs for the year - the most in the NCAA. He has set a new school record for rushing TDs, previously held by Chris McCoy. He has also tied the school record for most total TDs scored in a season, a record he shares with Bill Ingram from 1917.

Navy leads Delaware 28-12 with 8:35 left in the fourth quarter.

Red Zone problems

Delaware has scored on four consecutive drives, but have not been able to punch the ball into the endzone. Two of those drives have stalled inside Navy's ten yard line. Navy leads the Blue Hens, 14-12 with 3:12 left in the third quarter.

Navy 7-6

Navy leads Delaware 7-6 with 14:51 remaining in the second quarter. The Mids dodged a bullet when Marcus Curry fumbled and Delaware recovered and returned the ball to the Navy 19. The Blue Hens lost 3 yards on the drive and had to settle for a 39 yard field goal to cut the lead to one.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Navy Defeats Wake Forest in a Downpour

Navy Defeats Wake Forest in a Downpour
By Trevor Replogle

Annapolis, MD – Coming into Saturday’s Homecoming game, the Navy Midshipmen were fifth in the county in rushing averaging 279 yards per game. Navy hoped to continue that streak without the service of starting quarterback Ricky Dobbs. Dobbs was injured in last week’s overtime victory against SMU.

Wake Forest was coming off a tough ACC loss at Clemson last week 38-3. The Demon Deacons have relied heavily on the arm of their career passing leader, Riley Skinner.

Kriss Proctor stepped in admirably for Dobbs and led the Navy offense to a 13-10 win over Wake Forest in front of 31,907 fans. The Navy rushing attack pounded out 338 yards on 64 carries on a wet turf and Proctor didn’t attempt a pass in the game. It was exactly 364 days since Navy won a game without attempting a pass against SMU during the 2008 season.

It appeared early that the game would be decided by the feet of each team’s kicker. The Mids got on the board first when Joe Buckley capped off a 7-play, 29-yard drive with a wind-aided 50 yard field goal. True to form, Navy has won 36 of their last 39 games when scoring first.

Jimmy Newman got Wake Forest on the board early in the second quarter with a 40-yard field goal of his own.

The kicking battle continued on the ensuing drive. Navy started on their own 20 and used 11 straight rushes to move deep into Wake Forest territory. The drive stalled and Buckley showed his poise when he connected on a 40-yard field goal, this time into the wind.

Buckley wasn’t the only kicker that had success for Navy. Punter Kyle Delahooke set two career-high marks on the day. He nailed a 65-yard punt in the first quarter and then boomed a 68-yard kick in the fourth.

On Wake Forest’s second possession of the second quarter a torrential downpour started that wouldn’t let up for the remainder of the game. The weather appeared to favor the running-focused Midshipmen and hampered the aerial attack of the Demon Deacons.

Proctor put the game out of reach with Navy’s first drive of the second half. After pounding the Wake defense with six carries from fullback Vince Murray, Proctor showed some nifty moves of his own with a 40 yard scamper into the end zone. The score gave Navy a commanding 13-3 lead.

Skinner finally found pay dirt midway through the fourth quarter when he connected with Devon Brown for a 15-yard touchdown completion, cutting the Mids lead to three.

Wake’s defense was unable to stop the Midshipmen running attack late in the game and the Mids were able to run out the clock.

Vince Murray finished the game with 175 yards on 27 carries, his second straight 100 yard game. Kriss Proctor finished with 96 yards and one touchdown.

Riley Skinner finished the day with 173 yards passing on 25 attempts and one touchdown. He was sacked three times.

Navy hosts Temple next week at Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. With a win the Mids will be bowl-bound. They have accepted an invite to the Texas Bowl once they become bowl eligible.

Saturday, October 03, 2009

Mids Defeat Air Force in OT

On a beautiful afternoon in Annapolis, Navy and Air Force battled to the first-ever overtime matchup between the two schools. Coming into the game the Midshipmen were having their own internal battle between kickers Jon Teague and Joe Buckley. Last week Teague handled the kicking duties in less than impressive fashion. This week Buckley got the nod and the Junior finished the game as the Brigade hero.

Buckley nailed three field goals in the game with the final boot a 38-yard game winner in overtime. Navy came away with the overtime win 16-13 and the odds on favorite to retain the coveted Commander-in-Chief’s trophy.

Navy started the defensive battle by holding the Falcons to negative four yards on three plays and forcing the first punt of the game. Mario Washington returned the punt 12 yards to the Air Force 35 yard line setting up the offense with great field position.

Ricky Dobbs carried the ball three times on the drive with the final carry reaching the end zone from 13 yards out.

Air Force got on the scoreboard when Anthony Wright picked off Dobbs and raced 67 yards to the end zone. The TD was his second of the season and the fifth for the opportunistic Falcon defense.

On Navy’s next possession, Buckley gave the Midshipmen the lead with a career long 47 yard field goal. The half would end with Navy in the lead 10-7.

Head coach Ken Niumatololo wasn’t sure what to think when sending in Buckley for the long attempt.

“I didn’t know what to think. I asked him if he could make it, he said yes, I said go do it.”

Air Force’s kicker Erik Soderberg came up big for the Falcons late in the third quarter. After Navy punter Kyle Delahooke’s punt went only 27 yards to the Navy 37, Air Force looked to be in a position to take their first lead of the game. After nine straight carries the Air Force offense stalled on the Navy 10 yard line. Soderberg coolly split the uprights and tied the contest 10-10.

The fourth quarter had a little bit of everything that kept both Academies’ fans on the edge of their seats.

Navy capped off a 15 play drive with Buckley’s second field goal of the night, this time a 37 yarder that gave the home crowd of 37,820 a reason to celebrate.

Midway through the fourth quarter Air Force fullback Jared Tew fumbled on a fourth down play and the ball was recovered by Navy linebacker Ross Pospisil. Two plays later Dobbs fumbled after fighting for extra yardage and the Falcons recovered at midfield.

After the teams traded punts, Air Force had one more opportunity to win the game.

Starting on their own 24 yard line, the Falcons moved methodically down the field converting on both third and fourth downs to keep their drive alive. On a first and ten from the Navy 44, Wyatt Middleton picked off a Tim Jefferson pass in a play that appeared to seal the win for the Mids. A questionable roughing the passer penalty was called giving new life to the visitors.

Air Force moved the ball to the Navy 22 where Soderberg kicked his second field goal of the night with no time left on the clock to send the game to overtime.

Navy took the ball first and played the overtime in front of the Brigade of Midshipmen who had been raucous the whole game. After only being able to muster four yards on the drive, Buckley came in and coolly kicked what would be the game winner from 38 yards.

“Jon Teague and I have been battling at every practice,” noted Buckley. “It is not an ideal situation, but it has made both of us better kickers. I think that showed today. Doing something like this is a dream come true.”

Air Force had one last shot, but Soderberg couldn’t match his Navy counterpart and kicked the 31 yard attempt wide left giving the Mids the dramatic home victory.

Navy-Air Force tied 10-10

Erik Soderberg hit a 27 yard field goal to tie the game 10-10 late in the third quarter. Air Force capped off a drive that started at the Navy 37 yard line following a 27 yard Navy punt.

Navy Regains the Lead

Joe Buckley kicked a 47 yard field goal to give Navy a 10-7 lead going into the half.

The lead is bitter sweet as starting fullback Alexander Teich went down with an ankle and knee injury on his seventh carry of the afternoon. He is finished for the day.

Air Force Ties the Game

Navy QB, Ricky Dobbs was picked off by Anthony Wright who returned the INT 67 yards for a TD. The score was Air Force's 5th defensive TD this season. It was Wright's second score this season.

The intereception return for a touchdown was the first against Navy since the Tulane game in 2001.

Today's crowd was the third largest in Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium history (37,820). It's also the largest crowd to watch a Navy-Air Force game in Annapolis.

Merchant Interception

Emmett Merchant picked off a Tim Jefferson pass and returned it 33 yards to the Air Force 35. A penalty on the return moved the ball back to mid-field. The interception was Merchant's second of the year.

Navy 7-0

Ricky Dobbs ran it in from 13 yards and Joe Buckley tacked on the XP to give Navy the 7-0 lead over Air Force with 8:55 remaining in the first quarter. It was a 7 play, 35 yard drive that took 3:48. Navy held Air Force to -4 yards on three plays in their opening drive.

Air Force at Navy

It's a beautiful day in Annapolis for the Air Force - Navy football game. There's a strong potential for a record crowd at Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium for the first of leg of crowning the Commander-in-Chief's trophy.

For the record, Army just lost a heart breaker to Tulane when they missed a 37 yard field goal with about 15 seconds remaining that would have won it for the Black Knights.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Lady Panther breaks longstanding record

LOYSBURG - For some of the participants, the warm, dry and sometimes blustery conditions Wednesday at Panther Community Stadium were just ideal for spectacular performances.

You might even say they were Taylor-made at least for Northern Bedford's Taylor Crawford.

"I guess I'm just used to the wind here. We joke that it's never not windy here,'' Crawford said.

Crawford won three individual events - breaking a longstanding record in an event in which she wasn't even top-seeded - to highlight a strong day for individual girls at the District 5 Track and Field Championships.

Crawford captured the 100-meter hurdles, triple jump and long jump, while NBC's Nicki Leach took first in the 100 and 200, and teammate Cassie Beach won the javelin. Led by junior Crystal Dibert's gold-medal efforts in the discus and shot put and a victorious 3,200 relay, Bedford managed to edge out the Lady Panthers for the team title, 104-96.

The winner in each event advances to next weekend's state meet in Shippensburg, as does anyone meeting a predetermined time, height or distance. Everett's Alex Zanella rounded out the winning performances for area girls in the 3,200 run, and Bedford's Brandy Harris qualified for the PIAA meet by achieving the qualifying standard in the long jump.

Crawford had been seeded second to Harris in the long jump but pulled out a leap of 18 feet, 2 inches that was nearly 5 inches better than her previous best and a half-inch superior to that of McConnellsburg great Kim Spriggs' District 5 record from 1984. Harris jumped 18-0.

The joke was that the strong breeze might have carried the slightly-built Crawford to the new mark.

"The wind could have pushed me that far,'' Crawford said, laughing. "I definitely thought I was least likely to do my best in that event. I'm really proud.

"I wasn't even born when that record was set. Hopefully, it will be broken by someone that isn't born yet.''

Crawford came up a half-inch shy of Spriggs' meet mark with a 37-1 in the triple jump and managed to come back in the second half of the 100 hurdles to win a showdown with Windber's second-seeded Sarah Snyder, who posted a better time than Crawford in the trials.

"Winning [against Snyder] at the West Central meet gave me a real confidence boost,'' Crawford said. "The second part of my race is normally the best part. My starts aren't always the best, and I usually pick it up about halfway through.''

This will be Crawford's fourth trip to the interdistrict meet. For Leach, though, it will be the first. Northern Bedford's junior sprinter was seeded second to Berlin's Shelby Philip in the 100 and Shade's Chloe Mapes in the 200 but managed to prevail in both events with times of 13.24 and 26.71 seconds, respectively.

"I was really worried, because I wasn't [seeded] first. I think it may have driven me more to try as hard as I can, because I knew it was really close, and I just made me try my best,'' Leach said. "I just came in trying to run my best times.''

For Dibert, the district meet meant a last chance to take care of some unfinished business.

"I wanted to hit 110 in the disc and 38 in the shot all year. I finally did that today,'' Dibert said.

Dibert had already met her goal in the discus, but her best effort in the shot coming in was 2 inches shy of her objective. On her third throw, she broke her magic number - and the Lady Bison record - with a 38-1 1/4.

Dibert's winning throw in the discus came on her first attempt and held up by 4 inches over teammate Keshia Foor. Foor and Lauren Nave comically helped the 5-7 Dibert - who took a bow after winning the discus - up and off the highest perch on the awards stand, but they wouldn't have let her live it down if either of them had beaten her.

"In practice, they'll beat me and kind of rub it in my face,'' Dibert said. "It pushes me.''

Beach, a junior, surpassed her top-seeded distance in the javelin finals with a 125-1. Despite being favored and leading the whole way, Beach was wary of Dibert and Hyndman's Kasie Shoemaker, her close friend and champion when she was at Bedford last year.

"I just gave it all. Mainly, I just let it rip,'' Beach said. "I felt pressure, especially with Crystal and Kasie. I had my eye on them the whole time. Everybody says you don't want them to win, but [Shoemaker's] a good friend. You want to see her do her best.''

Zanella put aside the frustration of not coming through as the No. 1 seed last season by leading basically the whole way in the 3,200. Her 12-minute, 38.50-second time was about a half-minute off her personal-record, but that didn't dampen the feelings of the Everett sophomore, who battled a series of nagging injuries all year and wasn't taking anything for granted.

"Every race is different. Last year, I was seeded first and didn't win. That taught me to give it all you got and don't hold back,'' said Zanella, who also posted a PR with her second-place finish in the mile. "It's great to PR, but going to states is so much better.''

It was a tough day to be a top seed - only 10 of the 18 ended up winning.

Harris was favored in the high jump as well as the long. The Bedford senior, who was high jumping 5-4 and 5-6 for most of the season, won't get a chance to defend her PIAA bronze medal in the event after she was unable to make 5-2, both the height achieved by Chloe Mapes and the PIAA qualifying standard.

"I definitely am upset, because I know I can do 5-2, at least,'' Harris said. "I think my head was still in the long jump.''

Harris' one consolation was that her distance in the long jump was enough to more than a foot beyond the state qualifying standard. Long jump was considered Harris' stronger event before her success in the high jump at last year's state meet.

"I better do something good down [at states],'' Harris said.

Chestnut Ridge's Kristen Koontz, meanwhile, was ranked first in the mile and the 800 coming into the meet but had to settle for a third and a sixth.

Bedford's 3,200 relay came in seeded second but grabbed the lead early and held off Windber, with anchor Sarah Lashley crossing and collapsing over the finish line in a time of 10:20.69.

"I was just going all out, and my legs gave out at the end,'' Lashley said.

"We knew Ridge was our major challenge. Our goal was just to get out to a big lead and stay ahead,'' leadoff runner Chelsea Diehl said.

Altoona Mirror.com