Three Big Friday D1 College Games as Navy, ASU, and OSU Win
Three Big Friday D1 College Games as Navy, ASU, and OSU Win
Friday saw three major men's D1 college games go on, with one lopsided result, one going kind of as expected, and one very dramatic ending.
Navy vs Queens
In a game moved to Friday because of Tropical Storm Ophelia, Queens Head Coach Frank McKinney said before kickoff that "defense, defense, defense" was the key to the game.
Well it was, and the defense came from Navy. With No. 8 Ben Haugh and scrumhalf Sean MacLaney in good form Navy shut out the Royals 71-0. Tanner Russell, Haugh, and Jacob D'Amico, with Roanin Krieger converting, staked Navy to a 21-0 lead and one more try made it 28-0 at halftime.
Haugh, MacLaney, and JD Bengston all scored to make it 49-0 to open the second half (Krieger 7-for-7 on conversions by that point). Kade Williams, Nick Janowski, and Krieger then logged tries, with Krieger missing only one (the on for his try) before finishing the game with a penalty goal. The sophomore fullback notched 26 points on the day.
Arkansas State vs Adrian
In what was a bit of a battle early on Arkansas State punished Adrian penalties for two mauled-in tries while Adrian, with freshman No. 8 Aspenisa Sailo showing well, powered over for one of their own. It wasn't until the 33rd minute that Arkansas State was able to open it up a little. Some good interplay between scrumhalf Aidan Ridgway and flyhalf Warrick Day set up a pick-and-go chance for flanker Evan Roode.
Adrian answered with a penalty to make it 21-8 at halftime. But Arkansas State's wide-open game plan and fast play started to stretch the field. Fullback James Beauclerk finished off a nice movent to score a long-range try. But it wasn't until the last ten minutes that the Red Wolves were able to find paydirt again, scoring twice to win it 42-8.
Ohio State vs Notre Dame
This one came down to the wire. Two rivals starting freshmen at flyhalf, and both freshmen from the same high school, Ohio State took an early lead through a try from wing Connor Fairfield. Flyhalf Aiden Pickston added a penalty goal and that was it for the first-half scoring as the Buckeyes took a lead of 8-0 into the break.
But the Fighting Irish responded well, scoring two tries in the first 10 minutes of the second half. The conversions from Ryan Putka were good and the Irish led 14-8 as the second half wore on.
But a late Ohio State try put the Buckeyes within a point at 14-13, and as time expired, Pickston was able to slot a penalty goal to win it.
It wasn't pretty for Ohio State but they pulled it out.
