Ravens wrap up season next week at Post

RINDGE, N.H. (October 25, 2014) – Navy junior running back Eric Wellmon pounded his way 227 yards and three touchdowns while carrying the ball 30 times on Saturday afternoon, as the Franklin Pierce University sprint football team held close for the first half but sputtered in the second on the way to a 45-21 defeat at the hands of Navy in Collegiate Sprint Football League play at Sodexo Field. Senior quarterback Derek Reddy (Natick, Mass.) threw for 164 yards and a score in defeat for the Ravens.

With the loss, Franklin Pierces falls to 2-4, while Navy improves to 6-0 in advance of next week's showdown with Army, in Annapolis, Md., which will serve as the de facto CSFL title game.

The two teams traded touchdowns in the first quarter, with the Ravens striking first. On third-and-seven, Reddy found junior wide receiver Michael Holdridge (Peru, N.Y.) in the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown strike to cap a six-play, 54-yard scoring drive, with 8:59 on the clock. After each team turned the ball over on its next possession, Navy took over at the Franklin Pierce 47 after a Reddy fumble. On the second play, Wellmon took a handoff and went 41 yards to pay-dirt to level the score with 5:43 left in the quarter.

With the score tied 7-7, Navy took over from its own 21 for a drive which would stretch into the second quarter. On the first play of the drive, senior quarterback Joe Hampton hit junior wideout Matthew Hite for 62 yards to move the ball down to the Franklin Pierce 17. After a false start penalty backed the Midshipmen up five yards, Wellmon took over and would run the ball on the next six plays. He covered the remaining 22 yards himself, including rushes of eight and six yards, as well as a three-yard touchdown plunge to cap the seven-play, 79-yard drive. Junior kicker Brett Deters' point-after attempt was blocked by junior defensive lineman Will Ellery (Haddam, Conn.), which left the score 13-7.

After Franklin Pierce's ensuing drive stalled out near midfield, Reddy's punt left Navy's next drive to start from the its own 14. Hampton played an even bigger role in the scoring drive this time, as he scampered for 27 yards on third-and-four at the Navy 20, and later completed three passes, including an 18-yard touchdown pass to freshman wide receiver Colin Butler, which finished off the 10-play, 86-yard drive and pushed the score to 20-7 with 4:19 to play in the half.

Franklin Pierce would answer on the second quarter's final drive and ultimately scored on either side of halftime to surge to the lead. After the Butler touchdown, the Ravens' drive started from their own 34 and opened with a six-yard rush by freshman running back Demitri Moreno (Alhambra, Calif.), followed immediately by an 11-yard run by Reddy. Three plays later, Reddy hit freshman wideout Michael Melendez (Rochester, N.H.) for 12 yards and -- after a false start penalty -- followed up with a 12-yard strike to Moreno out of the backfield to move the ball to the Navy 25, but an illegal substitution penalty made it second-and-eight at the Navy 30.

On the next play, Holdridge found a seam in the defense, but was held up to prevent him from running down Reddy's pass. Flags flew for pass interference against the defense, and also for roughing the passer, which led to first-and-10 at the 15. After Moreno dropped a pass, Reddy found Melendez on the right side, and the latter went down just inches shy of the goal line. After a Navy timeout, Reddy kept the ball on a quarterback sneak and got the ball over the line for the touchdown to cap the nine-play, 66-yard drive.

Navy, which had deferred to the second half after winning the coin toss, had the first possession of the second half, but went three-and-out, prompting a punt on fourth-and-four at the Navy 39. Freshman punter Jules Murphy could not handle the snap cleanly and put the ball on the ground. Murphy initially appeared able to corral the loose ball, but as he did, he was drilled by junior Josh Tilton (Seymour, Conn.), which set the ball free again. Ultimately, sophomore linebacker Jason Reid (Leominster, Mass.) was able to scoop it up and take it 35 yards to the end zone, which led to a 21-20 lead for Franklin Pierce following the point-after.

It would be the final score of the day for the Ravens, who could not collect a first down on either of their next two drives, as Navy went out front to stay. Though the blue and gold did not score on the ensuing drive after the Reid touchdown, the Midshipmen did set up their next score after going three-and-out at their own 34. Murphy atoned for the mishandled snap earlier by booting a 65-yard punt which pinned Franklin Pierce inside its own one-yard line. The Ravens were flagged for running into the kicker on the play, but Navy elected to decline the penalty in favor of the field position.

Franklin Pierce could get nothing going from the poor starting position. Reddy kept the ball himself on first down, but was only able to pick up a yard out to the two. The Ravens attempted to catch Navy sleeping on second-and-nine, as Reddy dropped back to pass and sophomore back Andrew Jean (Irvington, N.J.) took off straight downfield. Jean was able to slip behind the coverage, but Reddy's pass was just too far to create the big gain and fell incomplete, which left Franklin Pierce facing third-and-nine at its own two-yard line. With a first down looking unlikely and not wanting to let Navy set up a punt return, the Ravens elected to have Reddy quick-kick the ball away on third down. He was able to get 45 yards on the punt, which allowed Navy to start its drive from the Franklin Pierce 47.

The Ravens turned to the defense, looking for a stop to flip the field position, but it was not in the cards. Wellmon ripped off 11 yards on the first play of the drive, lost a yard on the second play, but then chalked up 12 more on the third play to push the ball to the Franklin Pierce 25. From there, Hampton went to the air and found Butler for the latter's second touchdown catch of the afternoon. Wellmon swept left and found the end zone for the two-point conversion to push the lead to 28-21.

Franklin Pierce went three-and-out on its next possession, and Reddy's punt went just 31 yards this time, which left Navy to take over at the Franklin Pierce 40. The Midshipmen used nine plays and went 32 yards, including 22 more rushing yards from Wellmon, before the drive ran out of steam at the Franklin Pierce eight. Deters came on and converted on a 25-yard field goal attempt to push the lead to 31-21.

Navy added a 36-yard touchdown rush by Wellmon and a 22-yard pass from Hampton to Hite in the fourth quarter to create the 45-21 final.

Wellmon stole the show offensively, as he accounted for a vast majority of Navy's 261 rushing yards with his 227 and three touchdowns. Wellmon averaged 7.6 yards per carry on the afternoon. Franklin Pierce was unable to get the ground game going on Saturday and finished with just 40 net rushing yards, 29 of which came from Reddy.

As for the passing game, Reddy finished 12-for-31 for 164 yards and a touchdown, but was intercepted once and sacked five times. Meanwhile, Hampton completed eight of his 17 pass attempts for 157 yards and three touchdowns, was intercepted once and was sacked twice. Holdridge was Reddy's favorite target, as he had four catches for 50 yards and a touchdown, while Hite made three catches for 86 yards and a score for Navy.

Defensively, Reid's 11 tackles (four solo) matched sophomore linebacker James Willette (Hoosick Falls, N.Y.) for the game high. Reid made two tackles for loss, including one sack, and also had the fumble return for a touchdown. Senior lineman Chris Mershon led the Navy defense with nine tackles (five solo). Along the way, he piled up 4.5 tackles for loss, including 2.5 sacks.

The Ravens return to field on Saturday, Nov. 1, when they travel to Post for the season finale. Kickoff is set for noon at LaMoy Field in Waterbury, Conn.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce sprint football apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).