QB Malcolm Perry leads Navy ground game over out-manned Lehigh, 51-21

Annapolis – In a mismatch, Navy led by QB Malcolm Perry who rushed for 223 yards and three TDs, mauled the FCS Lehigh Mountain Hawks, 51-21.  On the other hand, Perry’s passing, two for 29 for 65 yards, left a lot to be desired.  It indicated that the Mids will be in a lot of trouble against better competition if in the future when it needs to throw the football.  Most of his errant passes misfired far from the clutches of his open receivers.

Unexpected start

Perry scored from the five on the seventh play of Navy’s first possession.  Surprisingly, with leading rusher Dom Bragalone out with a head injury, Lehigh scored on the first play from scrimmage on a 75-yard bounce out to the left side by Frosh RB Rashawn Allen. It marked the seventh time that a Navy opponent scored from 30 yards or more in their first three games.  After the sudden tie, the Navy defense got into a take-away mode.  The offense got on track reeling off five more TDs and two field goals before Lehigh got on the board again in the fourth on a 26-yard ramble by Allen (16 carries 142 yards, two TDs).

Jacob Springer’s interception on the Lehigh 28 set up Perry’s next TD run from the 24.  The Navy defense stopped Lehigh on downs at their own 27.  Short yardage QB Zach Abey finished off a run for a Navy 21-7 lead after a Perry completion of 48 yards to SB C.J. Williams to the two.

And the beat down goes on for Lehigh

In the second, sophomore Myles Fells torched the Mountain Hawks for his first career TD with a 52-yard jaunt.  Following DE Jarvis Polu’s fumble recovery at the Lehigh 44, PK Bennet Moehring nailed a 29-yard FG.  Later in the period, CB Jarid Ryan intercepted and Moehring converted a 37-yard FG with six seconds left in the half to give Navy a comfortable 34-7 lead going into the halftime show.

The Real Ring of Honor

For halftime entertainment, the Naval Academy Drum and Bugle Corps performed.  The highlight of their performance honored 44 Medal of Honor recipients in attendance today from all services to actions going back from WWII to the present.  A standing ovation was given by the remnants of 30,011 in attendance while the D&B finished up traditionally with “Anchors Aweigh” and “The Marine Corps Hymn”.

Navy QBs maintained the scoring barrage against Lehigh in the third period.  Perry scored on a 30-yard run to polish off an 85-yard drive.  The next Lehigh drive resulted in a forced fumble and recovery by Navy OLB Walter Little.  Third string QB Garrett Lewis, Navy’s best passer, completed a 39-yard pass to C.J. Williams and eventually ran in for the score with a four-yard touchdown to make the score 48-7 at the end of three.

Final Act

With second and third teams getting reps in the final period, Allen scored his second TD for Lehigh.  Moehring booted his third field goal from 45 yards out.  Lehigh finished the scoring in the waning seconds when Tyler Monaco tossed a two-yard pass to Cam Richardson to settle the score at 51-21, in favor of the Naval Academy.

 CFF.com Navy Scouting Report

This game was truly a case of Navy’s superior athleticism with FBS talent over a sister Patriot League FCS football program.  The Mids dominated others in the past such as Fordham and Colgate from the Patriot as well.  This game made sense as an opener for both as it was originally scheduled to be, but with three games each now under both team’s belts, they prep now for conference play.  Navy HC Ken Niumatalolo looked to find out what he could get from Malcolm Perry when he airs out the football.

GGA Brian Donnelly (Towson) and I didn’t like what we saw.  If Navy’s defense can’t stop an effective passing attack like Hawaii’s and can’t play ball control with its triple option, there will be some long days ahead when they can’t offset those kinds of offenses with a passing game of their own.  These challenges truly lie ahead.  The Mids will find out next week when they travel to SMU (1-2).  They got by the Mustangs, 43-40, a year ago as Perry ran wild.  However, now against conference foes that Navy plays year after year, these teams start planning well in advance for their vaunted triple-option.

CFF.com Lehigh Scouting Report

Lehigh (1-2) heads to Franklin Field in Philly to face non-conference foe Penn in the Ivy League’s first week of the football season.  We will see the Mountain Hawks play on the road again later this season on October 27 when they visit The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts for our first game ever attended there.  If Bragalone and Allen both stay healthy, they could become a dynamic rushing duo for Lehigh in their quest for the Patriot League championship.  Colgate will have something to say about that however.  They loom 2-0 after their game in South Carolina against Furman was cancelled. Lehigh hosts them on November 10.  The winner most likely wins the Patriot League FCS bid.

Extra Points:

While the Carolina coasts got battered by wind and rain on this day, the weather in Annapolis to the north was calm and clear.  During our tailgate, we raised the dried-out canopy from a week ago for cooler shade instead of for dryness from the rain.  Sub sandwiches, Old Bay Chicken wings, and Fred’s brownies and Doritos’ along with various pumpkin ales brought by Navy Al got us ready before and after the game.

This game marked milestones for both teams in our Collegefootballfan.com history. For the Naval Academy, we attended our 75th game.  Their record over the years is now 38-37.  For the Lehigh Mountain Hawks, formerly Engineers whens we started, this was our 25th game.  They stand 16-9 in the annals of our history. We will see both teams play again later this season and hopefully for many more years ahead.

“St. Laurie” and I enjoyed dinner at The Federal House afterward.  We strolled the Annapolis dock which indicated some flooding that had come over the sea wall, but nothing significant to the likes of what was pummeling the Carolina coasts.  “Pappy’s Toy” out of Nashville remained docked along the seawall since last weekend.  Annapolis was a good place to stay away from Hurricane Florence.  Four games scheduled with teams from North Carolina were postponed. The South Carolina vs. Marshall game got cancelled.

 Collegefootballfan.com remembers

This week, we look forward to two games.  Thursday night, Temple (1-2) hosts Tulsa (1-2) at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.  The Owls come off their 35-14 upset win over Maryland while Tulsa recovers from their 29-20 loss at home against Arkansas State.

On Saturday, we will attend our first game ever at Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville.  There, we will see the improved Commodores (2-1) after their 22-17 loss at Notre Dame host the South Carolina Gamecocks who are now itching to play after last Saturday’s cancellation.  Twenty-three years ago, we saw both of these team play for the first time against one another in the annals of our history in Columbia, SC.  The Gamecocks thrashed Vandy, 52-14. You can read all about that in my book, Tales from the Tailgate.   Last season, SC beat Vandy at home, 34-27.  We expect more of a challenge from the Commodores this time than we did back in 1995. Looking forward to seeing both teams play and visiting Nashville, the Music City,once again.