Midshipmen defeat Bucknell, win first opener since 2019

It took a couple of possession for the Midshipmen to hit their stride in new offensive coordinator Drew Cronic’s Wing-T offense, but when they did get going, they struck out for 473 total yards of offense as the Midshipmen soundly defeated the Bucknell Bison 49-21 in front of an announced crowd of 28,763 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis.

However, it was the Bison who struck first with a 47-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ralph Rucker IV to wide receiver Nate Anderson for the game’s first score. It capped off a four play, 65-yard drive that took 1:23 off the clock. After kicker Matt Schearer’s extra point, the score was 7-0 in favor of Bucknell with 13:37 remaining in the opening quarter.

Both teams went three-and out on their next possessions. Navy had the ball on 1st-and-10 near midfield. Quarterback Blake Horvath handed the ball off to fullback Daba Fofana who found himself past the line of scrimmage and into the open field. Nine seconds later, he scampered into the end zone for a 49-yard touchdown. Kicker Nathan Kirkwood missed the PAT making the score 7-6 in favor of Bucknell with 10:44 left in the first quarter.

The Bison began the next possession on their own 25-yard line. Between running backs Paul Neel, Tariq Thomas and Danny Meuser, and Rucker taking off on scrambles, Bucknell slowly marched down the field using the ground game. Rucker completed one pass to Anderson and one to Neel, threw two incomplete. After 13 plays and going 56 yards over 4:37 of play, the drive stalled at the Navy 19-yard line as the Bison turned it over on downs.

The Midshipmen didn’t fare much better when they took over possession. Running backs Eli Heidenreich and Alex Tecza, along with Fofana, marched down the field to the Navy 39-yard line. Horvath threw a pass short left to wide receiver Luke Hutchinson, being the only non-running play of the possession. Punter Riley Riethman punted the ball back to Bucknell, who took over at their own 16-yard line.

On the first play of the possession, Neel took a handoff up the middle for a seven-yard gain. After the tackle was made, Navy defensive end Luke Pirris flipped the ball to the official as Neel was down by contact. Replay official Kevin Collins took a closer look at the play and discovered that Pirris forced Neel to fumble at the 22-yard line. Pirris also recovered the fumble at the 23-yard line. Collins overturned the ruling on the field and ruled it a fumble.

Horvath, Tecza and running back Brandon Chatman piled up 20 more yards on the ground over four plays when the quarter ended. On the first play from scrimmage in the second quarter, Tecza broke up the middle for a three-yard touchdown run. Kirkwood’s extra point was good and the Midshipmen took a 13-7 lead with 14:56 left in the half.

Bucknell went three-and-out on their next possession. When Navy took over, Horvath tried getting their passing game going. He connected on a 13-yard strike to wide receiver Nathan Kent. Then Forfana rushed up the middle for three yards. Bucknell linebacker Brad Jamison sacked Horvath for a seven-yard loss. This was followed by cornerback Terian Williams II intercepting a deep ball thrown by Horvath, giving the Bison the ball back at their 29-yard line.

Again, Bucknell could not get their offensive rolling and were forced to punt after failing to secure a first down. A penalty for ineligible receiver down field, followed by five-yards lost when Rucker was sacked left the Bison no choice but to punt it away.

Chatman rushed to the left for six-yards, and then after an incomplete pass, he rushed left again for 14-yards. Fofana went up-the-middle for three yards. Then Horvath rushed right for two long chunk plays, one for 12 yards and the other for 13 yards. Horvath then found Heidenreich in the end zone for a nine-yard touchdown reception. Kirkwood’s extra point was good. Navy now led 20-7 with 5:23 remaining in the half.

Bucknell and Navy each punted on their next possession. Then the Bison ran into trouble. After Rucker completed a 13-yard pass to wide receiver T.J. Cadden, the Bison went backwards. With 1st-and-10 from the Bucknell 27-yard line, they lost 10 yards due to a holding penalty. Then Rucker was sacked by nose guard Landon Robinson for an eight-yard loss. A false start penalty pushed the Bison back even further, going from 3rd-and-28 to 3rd-and-32 from their own five-yard line. Rucker rushed up the middle for 14 yards to gain some of it back and give Schearer some extra room to punt.

Schearer boomed off a 46-yard punt, fielded by Heidenreich at the Navy 35-yard line. He returned it 23 yards to the Bucknell 42-yard line where the Navy offense took over. Horvath connected with Chatman on a screen pass which the running back took to the end zone for a 42-yard touchdown with 14 seconds left on the clock. Navy made good on the two-point conversion, giving them a 28-7 lead, which they took to the halftime break.

Navy received the second half kickoff. Injuries piled up soon after the third quarter began. Bucknell cornerback Aaron Davis left the game on a cart with 14:12 left in the quarter. After a long break to deal with his injury, Horvath left the game on the next play with a calf muscle strain. Braxton Woodson then came into the game to relieve Horvath with Navy at midfield.

Tecza ran up the middle for six yards, followed by two rushes by Woodson and one run from running back Amin Hassan. With 3rd-and-8, Woodson hit Heidenreich for a 20-yard touchdown pass. Kirkwood’s extra point made the score 35-7 in favor of Navy with 11:12 left in the third quarter. Navy went nine plays for 49 yards and took 3:41 off the clock during the drive.

The Bison finally responded with a 51-yard kick return by T.J. Cadden to begin the drive deep into Navy territory. Neel and Thomas combined for 12 yards on four carries, and Rucker passed to receivers Josh Gary and Sam Milligan for 18 yards, while losing four yards on a sack. On 4th-and-9 from the Navy 12-yard line, Schearer attempted a 29-yard field goal. It was blocked by Landon Robinson, who had sacked Rucker earlier in the game.

On the third play of the next possession, Woodson was intercepted by linebacker Nick Hoying who returned it for 32 yards. However, defensive end Jack Barnes was flagged for an illegal blindside block on the return. It pushed the Bison back from the Navy 25-yard line to the 40.

Rucker passed to Cadden for four yards and Gary for six yards. Then he ran three times for 27 yards, setting up a first-and-goal from the three-yard line. Neel ran up the middle for the touchdown. Schearer’s extra point made it 35-14 in favor of Navy with 3:06 left in the third quarter.

Navy punted after a stalled drive on their next possession. The Bison ran into trouble with incomplete passes and a false start on their drive, which ended with a turnover on downs with 11:40 remaining in the game.

Navy took over on their own 42-yard line and immediately Woodson hit Heidenreich for a 39-yard pass completion. This was followed by two rushes from Fofana for 12 yards, a 2-yard run from Tecza and ended on a 1-yard quarterback keeper for the touchdown. Kirkwood’s extra point made it 42-14 in favor of the Midshipmen with 8:33 remaining in the game. The drive took seven plays for 58 yards and took 3:07 off the clock.

Bucknell made a change at quarterback. Michael Hardyway, the senior quarterback, now saw his first action since 2021, and his first drive didn’t last long. Cadden ran up the middle for three yards. The Bison got hit with an illegal formation penalty on the next play, pushing them back five yards. Cadden ran up the middle for two more yards. Hardyway then passed to Cadden at the Bucknell 16-yard line. He advanced it to the 31-yard line and fumbled. It was recovered by Navy linebacker Elijah Oatsvall.

The Midshipmen also made a change at quarterback, electing to go with Robert Trey Jones, the freshman from Plainfield, Ill. Junior running back Shane Reynolds split duty with freshman running back Mikey Pearson.

Reynolds took a handoff up the middle for three yards. Pearson ran for nine more. Combined, they ran six times for 33 yards. Sophomore running back Gage Leonard carried once for three yards. The drive ended with a five-yard run up with middle by Reynolds for a touchdown. After Kirkwood’s extra point, the Midshipmen now led 49-14 with 2:10 remaining in the game.

Even though it was all but over for the Bison, they still gave it their all for one last drive. Cadden rushed up the middle for two yards. Hardyway passed to Cadden for 27-yards. Cadden rushed to the right for two yards. Tight end Kyle Fontes caught a four-yard pass from Hardyway. Then Hardyway hit Cadden for a 37-yard deep pass over the middle to set up 1st-and-goal at the two-yard line. Cadden ran up the middle for a two-yard touchdown. Schearer’s extra point made the score 49-21 with just 30 seconds left in the game.

When Navy began their final possession, Woodson kneeled for a one-yard loss to run out the clock, securing their first season opening win since 2019.

Navy quarterback Blake Horvath went 7-for-12 for 108 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Braxton Woodson went 3-for-7 for 65 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Daba Fofana led the Midshipmen in rushing with eight rushes for 82 yards and one touchdown. Brandon Chatman added six rushes for 47 yards; Alex Tecza carried 12 times for 40 yards and one touchdown; Blake Horvath rushed seven times for 40 yards; Shane Reynolds added four carried for 19 yards and one touchdown; and Braxton Woodson crossed the line of scrimmage eight times for 15 yards and one touchdown.

Eli Heidenreich led Navy in the receiving category with four receptions for 74 yards and two touchdowns. Jake Norris caught two passes for 25 yards; Brandon Chatman added one catch for a 42-yard touchdown; and Nathan Kent hauled in one 13-yard pass.

“[It’s] great to get a win. One of our goals around here was to win the opener. We haven’t done that since 2019. We got that done. While we’re always going to celebrate wins, they’re not always easy to come by,” said Navy head coach Brian Newberry.

“A lot of good things on film and a lot of things that need to be cleaned up,” Newberry added. “I thought we were really sloppy at times. I don’t feel we played to quite our standard on defense throughout the entirety of the game.”

Heidenreich gives the offensive line a lot of credit for the offensive production on the day.

“It starts up front. I think we pounded the ball today and we ran well,” said Heidenreich. “I think our O-line was physical. They were a little agile too on those screens but at the same time we got the ball into our playmaker’s hands. I think we did that in some pretty simple ways.”

“I can’t predict the future but I can say that we will be mixing it up a little bit and doing some more complex stuff moving forward,” he added.

Ralph Rucker IV went 11-for-24 for 122 yards and one touchdown to lead Bucknell. Michael Hardyway was 4-for-5 for 84 yards in relief.

Paul Neel led the Bison in rushing with 12 carries for 61 yards and one touchdown. Ralph Rucker IV carried 10 times for 56 yards; Tariq Thomas carried six times for 15 yards; Michael Cadden touched the ball five times for 12 yards and a touchdown; while Danny Meuser carried five times for 14 yards.

T.J. Cadden led Bucknell receivers with five receptions for 97 yards. Nate Anderson hauled in two catches for 61 yards and one touchdown; Josh Gary caught two passes for 15 yards, and Eric Weatherly was on the receiving end of two passes for 10 yards.

“I thought our guys would fight for 60 minutes, and they absolutely did that,” said Bucknell head coach Dave Cecchini. “They did not give up. They did not quit. They played just as hard on the last play of the game as the first play of the game. Sixty minutes of football in hot, humid conditions.”

Bucknell plays in the Football Championship Subdivision of Division I NCAA football, while Navy is in the American Athletic Conference of the Football Bowl Subdivision.

When asked about playing on the road against an upper subdivision team, Cecchini said, “It’s different than playing at the FCS level with 99 percent of the stadium full and the great atmosphere here at Navy. It definitely was a step up.”

“I think our players were very excited to play in this stadium and to play Navy. I don’t think for a second it affected our focus or our composure. I’m proud of our guys how they didn’t let the big stage and a national TV broadcast make them nervous or awestruck,” he added.

Navy (1-0) hosts the Temple Owls (0-1) at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday Sept. 7 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis. Bucknell (0-1) travels to the Virginia Military Institute Keydets (0-1) for a 1:30 p.m. ET contest also on Sept. 7.