Navy football beats Charlotte, 14-0, after freshman QB Braxton Woodson takes over for injured Tai Lavatai
Navy’s already shaky quarterback situation suffered another setback during Saturday’s American Athletic Conference contest at Charlotte.
Senior Tai Lavatai left the game after just one offensive possession with a rib injury and did not return. Freshman Braxton Woodson took over under center and did just enough to lead the Midshipmen to an ugly win.
Woodson completed a 69-yard touchdown pass to slotback Eli Heidenreich and fullback Alex Tecza later added a 62-yard scoring scamper as Navy shut out Charlotte, 14-0, before a sellout crowd of 15,659 at Jerry Richardson Stadium.
“The encouraging thing is that we found a way to win. That’s what teams that are turning the corner do. They find a way to win,” Navy coach Brian Newberry said. “I don’t care how it looks. I’m only interested in winning the game.”
Lavatai apparently aggravated a preexisting injury at some point during Navy’s first possession, which ended with the quarterback getting sacked. He had regained the starting job after sophomore Blake Horvath suffered a thumb injury during last Saturday’s victory over North Texas.
Woodson was pressed into action and it was clear the plebe was not ready for prime time. He looked tentative and uncertain directing the option offense, which had trouble picking up a first down. Woodson also struggled passing, completing 5 of 14 attempts for 85 yards with most of that coming on the bomb to Heidenreich.
Navy (3-3, 2-2 AAC) finished with 265 total yards with 131 of that coming on the two touchdown plays. The Midshipmen were limited to eight yards or less on eight of 12 possessions.
“Braxton came in and had some struggles. He missed some reads. We had to let him settle down,” Newbery said. “I thought he looked different in the second half and took command. We knew we needed some big plays in the second half and we got two, which was all we needed.”
Navy now finds itself in even more of a quarterback quandary heading into next Saturday’s service academy showdown against Air Force in Annapolis. Senior Xavier Arline moved from slotback to quarterback at the beginning of the week and is now the backup.
Arline has considerable more experience than Woodson, but has been practicing as a slotback most of the season.
It was an offensive struggle for both sides with a combined 20 punts in the game. Riley Riethman was an unsung hero for Navy, booming a career-high 11 punts for a total of 509 yards. He averaged 46.3 yards per punt with a long of 59 and had four downed inside the 20-yard line.
Navy’s defense carried the day with inside linebacker Will Harbour leading the way with 11 tackles and half a sack. Mbiti Williams, who shifted between cornerback and safety, amassed nine tackles for the second straight game. Cornerback Dashaun Peele had a big game with eight tackles, an interception and a pass breakup.
Inside linebacker Colin Ramos totaled eight tackles, a sack and two pass breakups. The Midshipmen finished with a season-high six pass breakups to go along with seven tackles for loss in posting their second shutout of the season — doing so for the first time since 2008.
“I can’t say enough about the defense. They were lights out today. I’m just really proud of our defensive staff and the players,” Newberry said. “Sometimes when you’re not moving the ball offensively and you’re in your own field a bunch you have a tendency to let up and get tired. Our kids kept fighting. Just really proud of the defensive effort.”
Both offenses struggled mightily during a scoreless first half with the two teams combining for 12 punts. Charlotte ran the ball effectively, but repeatedly stalled after moving into enemy territory. The 49ers (1-5, 0-2) amassed 114 yards in the first half with 103 coming on the ground.
Navy’s offense was limited with Woodson at the helm and managed only 57 yards, all but seven of which was via the run. Woodson scrambled for 22 yards to pick up one of three first downs for the Midshipmen. The plebe was ineffective passing, completing just 1 of 6 attempts and missing badly on most of those throws.
Lightning struck on the fifth play of the second half. Facing third-and-14 from his own 31-yard line, Woodson delivered a terrific throw that he fit into a tight window. Woodson connected with Heidenreich on a post pattern and the sophomore slotback did the rest, sprinting into the end zone for a 69-yard touchdown catch.
“Eli’s been exceptional at wideout all year. He’s gotten behind the coverage a lot and we’ve been able to get the ball to him,” Newberry said. “That was a great catch and a great throw. I’ve been telling everybody that Braxton has a live arm and can make some good throws.”
Heidenreich, who had a 68-yard catch against South Florida, said he ran a simple seam route and praised Woodson for hitting him in stride.
“They had an outside linebacker playing soft on me so I slipped right past him. The safety was looking at the other vertical and it was open,” Heidenreich said. “Braxton delivered a perfect pass right down the seam. It was catch and run — just beautiful.”
Kicker Nathan Kirkwood booted the extra point to give Navy a 7-0 lead at the 12:30 mark of the third quarter. With the way both offenses had played up to that point, it seemed likely that would hold up.
Indeed it did.
Safety Rayuan Lane ended Charlotte’s first possession of the second half after just three plays by recording an interception. Peele had a pass breakup on third down to prevent the 49ers from picking up a first down on their next possession.
And so it went for Charlotte, which only seriously threatened to score once. Navy’s offense didn’t fare much better, but Tecza padded the lead by bursting through a big hole up the middle and racing 62 yards untouched into the end zone to make it 14-0 with 11:02 remaining in the game.
“Tecza has made big plays all year. We needed that play big-time and that kind of sealed the game for us,” Newberry said. “I knew if we scored there, with the way our defense was playing, that would probably be the ballgame.”
That touchdown was set up by a strip sack by Navy inside linebacker Colin Ramos, who drilled quarterback Trexler Ivey to jar the ball loose. Defensive end Justin Reed recovered to set up the Mids with good field position.
“It wasn’t a game where we brought a lot of pressure, but when we needed to we affected the quarterback. That was a great play by [Ramos],” Newberry said.
Ivey found wide receiver Jairus Mack open downfield for a 51-yard completion on the first play of the ensuing possession. A pass interference penalty on Ramos helped Charlotte move the ball to the Navy 6-yard line, but the home team could not punch it in.
Ivey threw an incomplete pass on fourth down and Navy took over. The Midshipmen picked up three first downs on the next possession to take valuable time off the clock.
Navy now prepares for the first leg of the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy series against Air Force (5-0), which was undefeated going into Saturday night’s critical Mountain West Conference contest against Wyoming (5-1). The Midshipmen have some momentum after winning two straight.
“It’s awesome to win two consecutive league games. We’ve got to find a way to be more consistent offensively. We’ve got to score more points to beat a team like Air Force. Everybody knows that. We’ve got to go out and get better,” Newberry said.
