Thursday 28th March 2024
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White Defeats Navy In Annual UT Martin Spring Football Game

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By Alex Boggis, UT Martin Assistant Sports Information Director

 

MARTIN, Tenn. – The two-time defending Ohio Valley Conference champion University of Tennessee at Martin football squad wrapped up its spring schedule today with the annual Navy and White Game at Hardy Graham Stadium.

Today’s event was the Skyhawks’ 15th practice and third scrimmage of the spring semester. Oshae Baker, Tevin Shipp and Lamar Morgan served as captains for the Navy team while Daylan Dotson, DeVonte Tanksley and Gavin Olson were captains on the White squad.

The game started with fireworks as Matt Myers hit Zoe Roberts for a 75-yard strike on the first play of the game, quickly pushing White ahead by a 7-0 margin.

Navy evened up the score on its opening drive of the second quarter as Cornelious Brown IV found Marlon Cook for a 32-yard touchdown pass. Less than a minute later, Narkel LeFlore scampered for a 68-yard scoring run to give the White squad a 14-7 edge.

Ryan Young closed out the first half with field goals for both sides. The redshirt freshman out of Nashville, Tenn. drilled a 39-yarder for the Navy team before successfully booting a 36-yard attempt for White, resulting in a 17-10 score in favor of the White squad at the intermission.

Both teams exchanged touchdowns in the third quarter. One play after Navy’s Wyatt Gilbert came away with an interception, Sam Franklin found paydirt on a run from 32 yards out to tie the contest at 17-all. Two plays later, White went back on top after Myers connected with Roberts once again – this time for a 58-yard score – to nudge White ahead 24-17.

Defense dominated the fourth quarter as the first four combined drives resulted in a pair of turnover on downs and two punts. Navy received the ball at its own 24-yard line with 1:55 remaining and Brown led the squad down the field – eventually finding Cook for a 29-yard touchdown with 54 seconds to go. Navy elected to go for the two-point conversion and the win but White senior safety Tyler Mullins rose high for an interception to seal the dramatic 24-23 victory.

Overall, the UT Martin offense combined for 813 yards on 125 plays. Myers threw for 286 yards and a pair of touchdowns on the White squad while Brown tallied 249 yards of total offense (219 passing, 30 rushing) to go along with two touchdown throws for Navy.

Ajay Smith hauled in a game-high six receptions for Navy while Roberts (154 yards for White) and Cook (104 yards for Navy) each crossed the century-mark in receiving yards while hauling in two touchdown on five catches apiece.

The Skyhawk rushing attack was paced by White’s LeFlore, who ran for 124 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. Jonquavous Brown (nine rushes, 46 yards for White), Jordan Castleberry (eight carries, 37 yards for Navy) and Franklin (seven rushes, 51 yards, one touchdown for Navy) also earned a heavy workload out of the backfield.

UT Martin’s defensive unit also stood out as the Skyhawks recorded four sacks, three additional tackles-for-loss, nine quarterback hurries, 14 pass breakups and an interception.

Redshirt sophomore safety Antonio Jackson led the way with a game-high seven tackles for the White team while fellow White teammate Isaiah Abdullah followed closely behind with six stops. Christian Dowell produced four tackles, a game-high three quarterback hurries and a pass breakup for Navy while Chris Hunter (Navy), Jarid Johnson (White), Daylan Dotson (White) and Myles Saulsberry (White) each came away with sacks.

Mullins swatted away two pass breakups to go along with his game-saving heroics at the end of the contest. Gilbert chalked up three tackles and a pass breakup in addition to his interception to set up a score in the third quarter.

On special teams, Young was a perfect 5-for-5 in PAT tries while adding the two second-quarter field goals. The punting duties were split by Jackson Abel (six punts, long of 50 yards) and Grayson Campbell (five punts, long of 42 yards).

UT Martin officially opens the 2023 campaign in 132 days when it travels to back-to-back Football Bowl Subdivision national champion Georgia on Sept. 2.

 

Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information

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