In a meeting of the #1-ranked team in the nation and the #4 team, top-ranked Navy held off a furious Cal charge to win 33-28 Saturday in Annapolis, Md.
On a windy day, both teams worked hard to be smart about the wind, but the breeze also played havoc with the lineouts, especially early on.
Playing against the wind, Navy was trapped in their own half for most of the first 15 minutes. The Midshipmen were able to get some possession, however, and kept it scoreless until a smart counter-attack from Cal got them on the scoreboard.
A smart grubber through from flyhalf Keelan O’Connell was fumbled a little by the Navy defense and Cal kept the pressure on. Eventually tighthead prop Charlie Walsh took a short pass and was over. Captain and fullback Max Schumacher slotted the conversion for a 7-0.
Navy continued to be plagued by handling errors that undercut any attempt to run out of their own end, but Cal was having trouble with their lineouts, so much so that later on they opted to just tap and run.
Too Many Penalties
Penalties started to hurt Cal. Offside on a kick brought the ball back to midfield, where Navy opted for the lineout and won it. Their maul traversed 20 meters, and when Cal was penalized again, it seemed only a matter of time. The maul got the Midshipmen close and after a couple of phases, flanker Jack McMahon powered over. The kick was no good and Cal led 7-5. But another Cal penalty led to another lineout and maul. Navy attacked wide from there, got another penalty, and the maul produced a try for tighthead prop Matthew Thibodaux. Landon Opp’s wind-curved conversion, which he Carlton-Fisked through the posts, made it 12-7 Navy.
With about nine minutes left in the first half Cal No 8 Alex Aguero was yellow carded after referee Kat Roche had grown tired of calling penalties. But Cal held firls, and in fact were the next to score. Another grubber followed by a good steal and quick tapping got Cal to the line. There they went through a long period of bashing the line and Navy tackling before, finally, center Max Threlkeld was over. Schumacher converted and that put Cal ahead 14-12 at halftime.
For Navy, yes they were behind but only by two and with the wind at their backs for the second half.
Second Half
Navy pressured off the kickoff but ballhandling errors and then a holding-on penalty right under the posts let Cal off. But overall Navy’s defense was good and even as Cal marched their way into Navy territory, the Midshipmen tackled effectively. They were looking for the turnover, and finally got one only to see their deep kick roll past the dead ball line. So a scrum back where the kick originated. This seemed like an excellent chance for Cal, but the ball bounced out of the scrum on the Navy side and while Lewis Gray’s attempt at a 50-22 was just saved by Evan Weigold, the Cal wing knocked the ball on in doing so; scrum five meters out for Navy, and after a penalty another scrum, from which scrumhalf Sean MacLaney dummied and cut through to score.
With Opp’s conversion that made it 19-14 Navy, and they wouldn’t trail again in the match.
A lineout-and-maul almost produced another try for Navy. They were stopped, but eventually they were right there for Thibodauz to take a flat mass from hooker William Webb and score his second. Now it was 26-14.
