Navy Cruises Past ECU 56-28
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Navy played precision football and ran their triple option to perfection in a 56-28 victory over East Carolina in rainy Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
The Midshipmen rushed for 512 yards on the way to 563 yards in total offense against 338 for the Pirates.
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Gee Gee Greene led Navy with 132 yards rushing on 14 carries while quarterback Keenan Reynolds ran for 81 yards of his own. Navy only passed the football five times the entire contest as Reynolds went 3-5 for 51 yards, two of which were touchdowns.
Navy(5-3) opened the scoring on a touchdown by Marcus Thomas good for 17 yards and a 7-0 lead.
The Midshipmen scored again when Noah Copeland ran for a five yard touchdown to make it 14-0.
Shane Carden got ECU on the scoreboard when he passed to Justin Hardy down the middle for 9 yard touchdown to cut the lead to 14 -7.
Then East Carolina running back Reggie Bullock rushed up the middle for 2 yard touchdown to tie the score in the the second quarter at 14 apiece.
Navy took a 21-14 lead into the locker room when Keenan Reynolds' one yard quarterback sneek gave the Midshipmen their third touchdown of the day with 2:39 to go in the first half.
In the first half alone, Navy ran for 244 yards on the ground. Quarterback Keenan Reynolds only threw the football three times completing one. Shane Carden went 14 of 17 in the first half with one touchdown pass on the way to a 19 of 29 performance with one touchdown.
Reynolds scored from two yards out just four minutes into the second half to give Navy a 28-14 lead.
Shawn Lynch layed a pop on Lance Ray on the ensuing kickoff and Navy recovered the fumble. Reynolds converted that into a 15 yard touchdown pass to Casey Bolena, his first of the season for a 35-14.
Reynolds one yard keeper made the score 42-14.
East Carolina(5-4) finally got something cooking when Vintavious Cooper scored on a 15 yard scamper off right tackle to begin the fourth quarter.
Navy extended their lead when Keenan Reynolds hit Geoffrey Whiteside down the middle for 20 yard touchdown strike. Nick Sloan's PAT made the score 49-21, thirty seconds into the fourth stanza.
Ryan Williams-Jenkins 33 yard run made it 56-21 with just over thirteen minutes to play.
ECU scored with 7:23 left to play when Reggie Bullock collected his second touchdown of the game on a five yard run to cut the lead to 56-28.
Vintavious Cooper led the Pirates in rushing with 124 yards as one bright spot for the Pirates.