Navy's second-quarter scoring spurt sinks sprint football in 34-6 loss

In 45 minutes of play on Oct. 25, sprint football played even with the Navy Midshipmen. The first quarter was scoreless, as was the third quarter. The fourth quarter was a 6-6 draw.

But there are 60 minutes in a football game. And though the Tigers played solid football for 45 minutes, the remaining 15 minutes that made up the second quarter of the game at Rip Miller Field in Annapolis, Md., were all Navy (5-1 overall, 3-0 CSFL) needed to blow the game open.

In their final home game of the season, the Midshipmen scored 28 second-quarter points en route to a 34-6 victory over Princeton (0-5, 0-3).

The Tigers got on the board midway through the final stanza when junior Ricky Racela broke through from one yard out, scoring his second touchdown of the year. Racela is the only player with more than one touchdown for Princeton this year.

All told, the Tigers have been outscored 189 to 37 this season.

Despite the lopsided score, Princeton turned in some impressive individual statistics. Junior running back Christian Gomez led all rushers in the game with 72 yards on 27 carries. Freshman wide receiver Adam Farren caught five of freshman quarterback Dennis Bakke's six completions and ended up with 106 yards receiving.

But yardage gains aside, the end zone belonged to Navy. Quarterback Chris Ashinhurst, who left the game midway through the second quarter after throwing for a video-game-like three completions for 100 yards and two touchdowns, opened the scoring just 1 minute, 19 seconds into the second quarter with his fifth rushing touchdown of the season.

Ashinhurst's final play was a 56-yard scoring toss to team captain Doug Neves with 8:39 remaining in the half, increasing the lead to 21-0. Neves finished with two touchdowns on two receptions totalling 127 yards. Neves' other catch was a 71-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Steve Troy early in the fourth quarter.

With a 9-6 victory over Penn Nov. 2, Navy set up a showdown for the CSFL title against Army at Shea Stadium in West Point, N.Y., on Friday. The Black Knights handed the Midshipmen their only defeat of the season on Oct. 6 at the Anthracite Bowl, dominating Navy 24-7.