Mansfield Earns Respect Against Navy

ANNOPOLIS,MD – Paul Harrison's 32-yard field goal early in the second quarter snapped Navy's unscored on streak at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium and D.J. McLean Jr. caught a 25-yard touchdown from Adam Hutchison but it wouldn't be enough as Mansfield dropped a 43-9 decision in a CSFL contest Friday night.

Although Mansfield lost the game, the Mountaineer defense earned a great deal of respect, picking off a season-high four passes and holding Navy in check until late in the game. The Mountaineer defense allowed Navy just 277 yards in total offense, 177 yards' shy of their league-leading average of 444 yards coming into the game.

Navy had been unscored upon at home this season beating Post and Chestnut Hill by a combined score of 93-0.

Mansfield played a strong first quarter, especially defensively allowing the Midshipmen just 33 yards in total offense over the first 15 minutes of the game.

Navy got on the board first after pinning Mansfield deep it its own territory. The Midshipmen got the ball at the Mansfield 37-yard line. Navy looked to be stopped but picked up a first down on a 3^rd and 14 from the Mansfield 26 putting the ball on the MU 7 yard-line on a 19-yard pass from Nick Deterding to Matt Vogel. Two plays later Clements scored on a 3-yard run with four minutes remaining the first quarter.
Two series later, Deterding's pass was intercepted by Mansfield freshman Kardale Taylor at the Mansfield 48 and returned 23-yards to the Navy 29.

Mansfield picked up a critical first down when Hutchison hit freshman D.J. McLead Jr. with a five-yard pass on 4th-and-3 putting the ball at the Navy 22. Three plays later Harrison booted a 32-yard field goal to cut the lead to 7-3.

Mansfield threated again in the second quarter with the ball at the Navy 48 yard-line. An offside call against Navy gave the Mountaineers a first and ten at the Navy 43-yard line but Mansfield fumbled on the next play with Alex Oldham returning the ball 55-yards for a touchdown and increasing the lead to 23-3 with just over two minutes remaining in the first half.

Following a sideline interference call against Navy, Mansfield started its drive at their own 43 on a 17-yard return by Logan. Hutchison hit Logan for a 14-yard pass for a first down to the Navy 43 but three straight incompletions forced Mansfield to take its final time out of the first half with 1:18 remaining.

Another Mansfield passes on fourth down fell incomplete giving Navy the ball at their own 43 with 1:12 remaining.

Navy was moving the ball until Brandon Pace picked off an interception at Mansfield's 27-yard line and returned it 18 yards to the Mansfield 45 with 31 second before the half but the Mountaineers could move no further.

Mansfield held Navy's league-leading offense to just 107-yards in total offense in the first half including 41 yards through the air. The Mountaineers ran off 36 plays to Navy's 33 and held a 15:37-14:23 advantage in time of possession.

Taylor intercepted his second pass of the evening on Navy's first passion of the second half at Mansfield 23-yard line.

Navy was knocking on the door again on its next possession but senior Kyle Post intercepted the ball at the goal line.

Navy rarely passed again after that interception using a powerful ground game to grind out the win over the last 25 minutes of the game.

Hutchison completed 14-of-34 passes for 108 yards including a 25-yard touchdown strike to McLean Jr. late in the game. McLean had six catches for 58 yards while Kurt Logan had three grabs for 24 yards.
Kyle Post had an exceptional game. The senior recorded a game-high 10 tackles including 1.5 for a loss and picked off the eighth pass of his career. Fellow senior John Capwell continued his outstanding season also recording 10 tackles with eight of them solo.

Freshman Kardale Taylor had two interceptions while Michael Johnson and Isaac Havens each were credited with six stops. Senior Dylan Flexer went over the 100 tackle mark in his career with four tackles on the night giving him 101 in his career.

Clements, the CSFL's leading rusher, ran for 118 yards on 26 carries and scored two touchdowns to lead Navy.

Mansfield host Post University next Saturday for Senior Day.