Hargrave PG Football Sinks Midshipmen
Bell and Goode eclipse 100-yard rushing mark in 31-15 win versus Navy
Annapolis, MD – The Hargrave Military Academy Post Graduate football team did a few simple things Friday afternoon on the campus of the United States Naval Academy. The Tigers got off the bus, played a football game, and then headed back to Chatham, VA to get back to work. Although this seems like an obvious sequence of events, it was a little more than that. After one of the teams chartered buses had engine problems as they prepared for their pre-game meal, the sixty-two man Tiger team bused over the Chesapeake Bay on one bus and arrived only thirty-minutes prior to kickoff. The PG’s literally stepped off the bus, had time to dress, and then proceeded to do something they had not done in a span of five years…..beat Navy to the tune of 31-15.
The Hargrave offense amassed 455-yards of total offense and ran seventy-five plays as they were able to keep a very high powered Navy offense on the sideline for most of the day. When the “Middies” did step on the field, the Tiger defense made sure their stay was short lived. The Tigers surrendered two touchdowns on the day, but both came on long runs with some missed opportunities to tackle the ball carrier for a loss on both plays.
Navy was able to get on the score board first when they booted a short field goal through the uprights for a 3-0 early lead. The Hargrave offense would fire back with a drive of their own. The Tigers got off to a slow start, but in a span of three plays were able to take the lead and put another score up for good measure. The Tigers moved the ball down field with the help of some precision passing by quarterback Emanuel Francis. Francis found receiver Livington Senatus twice during the drive. The first was an 18-yard strike near the side line. Running back Demetrius Goode slipped by the Navy defense for a 15-yard gain before Francis found Senatus again streaking down the field for a 45-yard completion to set the Tigers up with first down and goal on the Midshipmen two yard line. This time is was Goode who scored his first of two touchdowns when he went over the top to give Hargrave a 7-3 lead after the Kyle Hughes extra point.
The Hargrave defense shut down Navy on the next drive and forced a punt. The defensive line and linebacker unit kept the home team from getting anything going with their signature option attack. Ladi Ajiboye, Miguel Chavis, Johnny Hollins, Zach Hillary, Cowles Stewart, Bruce Campbell, Kyle Anderson, Jatrell Rollins, Stanley Randolph, Tal Flinchum, and Clifton Geathers lead the defensive line effort and helped the offense gain great field position by pinning Navy back deep before punting.
The next possession had equal success as the proceeding. Goode ran for a couple on first down, but then Francis found receiver Chris Slaughter down the field. Slaughter went over the defender to snag the pass, came down with the Navy defender wrapped around his waist, and then broke the tackle to take it in the additional thirty yards for the score. The pass covered 70-yards and with Slaughter’s individual effort a forty yard gain turned into a seventy yard touchdown. Another Hughes extra point gave the Tigers a 14-3 lead midway through the second quarter.
Navy was able to put up another score with five minutes remaining in the half, but the Tigers would not come away empty handed. Hargrave would plow through the line on the extra point attempt and was able to bat down the kick. Linebacker Almondo Sewell scooped it up, but could only scamper thirty yards before being run out of bounds. The blocked extra point would prove to be costly for the Midshipmen but with the touchdown Navy closed the gap to 14-9 with only a few minutes remaining in the half.
The Tiger offense would come back in championship fashion on the ensuing possession. After a squib kick left Hargrave on their own twenty-yard line, the PG’s would sustain a monster drive down the field. Running back Randell Bell carried the load on the series for Hargrave ripping off runs of 8, 12, 20, and 8 to move the Tigers into Navy territory behind the blocking of his offensive line and fullback Richard Parker. Parker carried a handful of times on the drive to give the PG’s two first downs to keep the drive moving. Although the drive would stall on fourth down, Coach Robert Prunty called on kicker Kyle Hughes once again to put points on the board. Hughes booted a 39-yard field goal with a very stout crosswind coming in from the bay to put the Tigers up 17-9 with six seconds remaining in the half.
Navy would come to find out that Hargrave was just getting started on defense. After vicious hits by the Tiger secondary, led by crowd pleaser DeAndre McDaniel, the defensive line stuffed Navy on a dive play and the ball popped up into the air. The only person in the area was defensive end Miguel Chavis who snatched the ball and scooted fifty-yards for a defensive touchdown to give the Tigers a 24-9 lead. Chavis went untouched and looked more like a running back then a defensive lineman to give Hargrave the biggest lead of the game.
Navy would not go home without a fight though. The Middies found a little success on another long run and made their way into the end zone to close the lead to 24-15 early in the fourth quarter, but the Hargrave extra point block team came up big again. This time a bobbled snap by the holder had the kicker running for his life and the Tigers were able to tackle him for a loss and keep it a two score lead up by nine.
After an exchange of punts by both teams the Hargrave defense again stood up. Chris Drayton, Almondo Sewell, Jasper Brooks, Russ Wantowski, Clarke Munson, William Johnson, Darrien Davis, and Shane Shead held the Midshipmen from moving the ball manning their linebacker positions and the secondary led by Jerrell Leak, Jimmaul Simmons, DeAndre McDaniel, Gerald Price, Ras-I Dowling, Brett Orr, Wayne Ferguson, and Brent Vinson kept applying run support for the PG’s. The result was a defensive stand on fourth down to give Hargrave the ball back with nothing but time to kill.
The Hargrave offensive line took the game over with six minutes remaining in the contest. Led by Justin “Bean” Anderson, Craig Wilson, Bruce Campbell, Justin Keown, Mike Phillips, Tyler Darden, Charlie Byrne, Ben Harden, Billy Cuffee, Kareem Crowell, and Ryan Tillman, the Tiger backfield moved the ball with precision converting three consecutive first downs on third down plays. Bell, who rushed for 136-yards on the day, and Goode (102 yards and 2 TD’s) found plenty of running room behind the “hawgs” up front. The running room that they found resulted in a go-ahead score when Demetrius Goode ran by the Navy defense and found the end zone from fifty yards out and gave Hargrave their longest run of the year and a 31-15 lead after Garrett Brandes punched the extra point through the uprights.
With less than two minutes to go in the game it was Clarke Munson who sealed the deal. Munson found his way through the offensive line and sacked the Navy quarterback causing a fumble that the Tigers recovered as time expired.
The offense, defense, and special teams shined for the Tigers on an overcast afternoon to give Hargrave the victory led by some outstanding efforts. Quarterbacks Andrew Calantone and Jamie Childers, along with Franics found it rough going as the wind came into play. The Tigers were still able to pass for 182 yards and hopped on the shoulders of Bell and Goode to out rush Navy with 273 combined yards. Kicker Kyle Hughes, along with the help of his holder Jake Fields, stayed perfect on the season with field goal attempts. Hughes is 5-5 on the season with a long of 51-yards. Navy could not get anything going on offense thanks to a fast paced Prunty defense.
The Tigers will take the weekend off before gearing up again for another long road trip. This time Hargrave will travel to Huntington, West Virginia to battle Marshall University for the first time in history. The PG’s will depart Chatham on Thursday and will face off with the Thundering Herd on Friday afternoon. Travel information will be made available on Monday.
