Navy Season 1 complete
At the beginning of the season, upheaval was the order of the day, as Liam Johnstone was brought in to coach the Navy Midshipmen. Mired in a slump of epic proportions, having lost the previous three Army-Navy games – the game that defines the teams involved, the Naval Academy decided to move on from coach Schneider and start fresh with a young man from Canada whose understanding of the college game and especially the option is a modern one.
Peter Gunningham was a lock at starting quarterback. Jason Polanco and Scott Sanderson proved early on in training camp that they were nothing more than spare arms. Gunningham is less than that, and more – much more. Possessing quick feet and a willingness to sell out in order to make the play, Gunningham is a thinking-man’s quarterback, which is what attracted Johnstone to the quarterback.
“He may not have the strongest arm but he gets the job done and he shows some flashes. He’s not destined for the pro game, but in the option, where it’s run first and then think about passing, P-gun is the man,” said Coach Johnstone after a game-1 victory. His words would be prophetic as Gunningham would lead the team in rushing yards as he led them to a near-perfect 11-1 season.
Behind Gunningham were the usual suspects: Hec Gervais, a solid, underrated fullback was the workhorse for the squad and his 28 touchdowns were enough to name him to the collegiate First-Team All-Americans. Speaking three words of English outside of football vocabulary, Gervais nonetheless starred for the Midshipmen and made them a consistent threat from the red zone.
Marc Pegram, son of Atlanta Falcons standout Erric Pegram, started the season at Wingback alongside Patrick Donnelly. Neither groused about the prominence of Gervais, as they both understood their roles as option-backs and targets out of the backfield. Said Pegram, “Gun is gonna do what he has to to let us win. He’s got the brain and he and Coach J know what it takes to win. If I run twenty dummy option routes and we win the game, I’m happy.”
Receiver was a point of weakness the season previous, with dropped balls, offensive pass interference calls and an overall lack of precision. Johnstone changed that. Harry Norris and Jack Potter led the nation in yards per catch, and, while their overall totals were nothing that impressive, they contributed to the overall success of the team. Eric La Redo was another solid performer through the air, catching the ball when he was called upon.
Defense was not the sore spot it was expected to be, and the front seven were dominant as the team led the nation in rushing yards against, floating around the 85 ypg area.
F. G. DeSoto is the heart and soul of the defense, his pass-rush technique refined over the summer against Ed Wright and Manuel Starkey, two of the Midshipmen’s better offensive linemen.
Chris Cooper, Hamilton Jeffries and Lamar Brown were the starters in the linebacking corps, and there was never any doubt that they were for real.
“I like to think that Coop and Hammy were the reasons, beyond FG that the defense was able to do what it could. With their coverage skills and smarts, I could send any of the three on a blitz and the others had his back. It’s nice when you have that in the bag.” That from defensive coordinator S. Woods, longtime friend and rival of the head coach.
Marco Gash, Larry Wood, Darnel Spooner and Ray Smith provided secondary support, flying around, knocking down balls, intercepting a few, and being lights-out in run support.
Brian Callahan was everything that was promised, nailing the ball with a marksman’s precision and Don Woods had great numbers, hitting on over 80% of his field goals.
The 11-1 record and Gervais’ individual honours were overshadowed somewhat by a white-washing of a 48-0 loss in their bowl game but Johnstone remains optimistic.
“It’s a whole new season. There’s a lot of recruiting to be done, and if what I hear is any indication, next year’s gonna be a whole lot better.” It remains to be seen what Johnstone means by that but for a team that started the season ranked 97th in the nation and ended just off the charts, a whole lot better is very exciting.
Peter Gunningham was a lock at starting quarterback. Jason Polanco and Scott Sanderson proved early on in training camp that they were nothing more than spare arms. Gunningham is less than that, and more – much more. Possessing quick feet and a willingness to sell out in order to make the play, Gunningham is a thinking-man’s quarterback, which is what attracted Johnstone to the quarterback.
“He may not have the strongest arm but he gets the job done and he shows some flashes. He’s not destined for the pro game, but in the option, where it’s run first and then think about passing, P-gun is the man,” said Coach Johnstone after a game-1 victory. His words would be prophetic as Gunningham would lead the team in rushing yards as he led them to a near-perfect 11-1 season.
Behind Gunningham were the usual suspects: Hec Gervais, a solid, underrated fullback was the workhorse for the squad and his 28 touchdowns were enough to name him to the collegiate First-Team All-Americans. Speaking three words of English outside of football vocabulary, Gervais nonetheless starred for the Midshipmen and made them a consistent threat from the red zone.
Marc Pegram, son of Atlanta Falcons standout Erric Pegram, started the season at Wingback alongside Patrick Donnelly. Neither groused about the prominence of Gervais, as they both understood their roles as option-backs and targets out of the backfield. Said Pegram, “Gun is gonna do what he has to to let us win. He’s got the brain and he and Coach J know what it takes to win. If I run twenty dummy option routes and we win the game, I’m happy.”
Receiver was a point of weakness the season previous, with dropped balls, offensive pass interference calls and an overall lack of precision. Johnstone changed that. Harry Norris and Jack Potter led the nation in yards per catch, and, while their overall totals were nothing that impressive, they contributed to the overall success of the team. Eric La Redo was another solid performer through the air, catching the ball when he was called upon.
Defense was not the sore spot it was expected to be, and the front seven were dominant as the team led the nation in rushing yards against, floating around the 85 ypg area.
F. G. DeSoto is the heart and soul of the defense, his pass-rush technique refined over the summer against Ed Wright and Manuel Starkey, two of the Midshipmen’s better offensive linemen.
Chris Cooper, Hamilton Jeffries and Lamar Brown were the starters in the linebacking corps, and there was never any doubt that they were for real.
“I like to think that Coop and Hammy were the reasons, beyond FG that the defense was able to do what it could. With their coverage skills and smarts, I could send any of the three on a blitz and the others had his back. It’s nice when you have that in the bag.” That from defensive coordinator S. Woods, longtime friend and rival of the head coach.
Marco Gash, Larry Wood, Darnel Spooner and Ray Smith provided secondary support, flying around, knocking down balls, intercepting a few, and being lights-out in run support.
Brian Callahan was everything that was promised, nailing the ball with a marksman’s precision and Don Woods had great numbers, hitting on over 80% of his field goals.
The 11-1 record and Gervais’ individual honours were overshadowed somewhat by a white-washing of a 48-0 loss in their bowl game but Johnstone remains optimistic.
“It’s a whole new season. There’s a lot of recruiting to be done, and if what I hear is any indication, next year’s gonna be a whole lot better.” It remains to be seen what Johnstone means by that but for a team that started the season ranked 97th in the nation and ended just off the charts, a whole lot better is very exciting.
posted by Liam J. | 12:05 PM
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