Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
2-5
Kent State
1-6
Kent State Hands Football Road Defeat
October 18, 2014 | Football
Final Stats | Final Stats (PDF) | Postgame Notes
Watch Highlights: Army at Kent State
KENT, Ohio - Kent State turned a three-point halftime lead into a 39-17 victory over Army on Saturday afternoon at Dix Stadium. The Golden Flashes gained 467 yards, including 360 through the air en route to their first win of the season.
Army gained 295 of its yards on the ground, led by Tony Giovannelli's 90 yards and a touchdown. Angel Santiago carried 21 times for 77 yards, Larry Dixon had 71 and Terry Baggett added 24. Through the air, Santiago was 3-for-10 for 17 yards and an interception, while A.J. Schurr was 2-for-3 for 18 yards late in the contest.
Pressure on Kent State QB Colin Reardon on the first play from scrimmage led to a lofted pass down the right sideline that was intercepted by Josh Jenkins. The result of the turnover was a successful 32-yard field goal by Daniel Grochowski after a holding penalty on second and goal halted Army's momentum.
Kent State started its second drive at the 25 after a touchback and Reardon led the home team down the field with three first down conversions through the air. Once Kent State was inside the Army 20, it was unable to get any closer and settled for a 27-yard field goal by Anthony Melchiori.
With the score tied at 3-3, Kent State engineered a 13-play, 84-yard scoring drive but the Army defense held firm inside the red zone and forced Melchiori to kick his second field goal of the half.
After the 29-yard kick, Santiago marched Army down the field and it regained the lead midway through the second quarter. Dixon's 13-yard run up the gut started the drive before consecutive Santiago keepers moved the Black Knights into enemy terrain. On third-and-four from the Kent State 40-yard line, Santiago escaped for 27 yards to keep the drive going. Three rushing plays later, Raymond Maples bullied his way to a touchdown from two yards out on first and goal. The score was Maples' second of the season.
Kent State regained the lead prior to halftime with a 10-yard play-action pass from Reardon to Casey Pierce. Tardieu's 16-yard punt that was knocked down by a stiff wind led the Kent State taking over at Army's 43-yard line, and six plays later the Golden Flashes went up 13-10. Pierce's touchdown catch was the first of two receiving scores and he finished with five catches for 55 yards.
Only 1:23 remained in the half on Army's next possession, and a pass interference penalty on third down kept the drive alive. Santiago rolled left and tried to connect with Xavier Moss deep down the field, but he was held when he turned to make the grab. The 15-yard penalty moved the Black Knights into Kent State territory on the 42. Army used two timeouts after consecutive running plays and on third-and-three Santiago was sacked. Army' Hail Mary attempt at the end of the half fell incomplete and Kent State went into the locker room with a 13-10 lead.
Army's first drive of the second half stalled and on the punt attempt from inside the Black Knights' 10-yard line, the snap hit the shoulder of one of Army's blockers and Tardieu was tackled after picking up the ball. Two plays later, Reardon passed right to Chris Humphrey, who made a man miss and stepped into the endzone to help Kent State to a 20-10 advantage early in the third quarter. Humphrey ended the day with five grabs for 72 yards.
Reardon overcame the early interception to throw for 360 yards on 27-for-40 with three touchdowns. He rushed for another score and led the Golden Flashes with 42 yards on the ground. His favorite target was James Brooks, who he hit seven times for 108 yards.
The Black Knights wasted no time in generating a response and produced a eight-play 77-yard drive that included a 37-yard run by Giovannelli and was capped off by his eight-yard scamper. After Grochowksi's extra point, Army trailed 20-17. Giovanelli ran for 56 of his game-high 90 yards on the drive.
Army's red zone defense proved its worth once again on Kent State's ensuing drive and yielding only a field goal and the Golden Flashes led 23-17 after Army punted at the end of the third quarter.
Kent State added to its lead with another field goal and made it a two-possession game with 12:12 to play.
Trailing 26-17 at that point, Army was unable to convert on fourth down and Kent State added two touchdowns to run the final score to 39-17.
Team Stats
ARMY 3, KENT 0
ARMY - Grochowski, D. 32 yd field goal 8 plays, 23 yards, TOP 0:00
ARMY 3, KENT 3
KENT - MELCHIORI, A. 27 yd field goal 11 plays, 65 yards, TOP 6:08
ARMY 3, KENT 6
KENT - MELCHIORI, A. 29 yd field goal 13 plays, 84 yards, TOP 5:23
ARMY 10, KENT 6
ARMY - Maples, Raymond 2 yd run (Grochowski, D. kick), 10 plays, 69 yards, TOP 4:57
ARMY 10, KENT 13
KENT - PIERCE, Casey 10 yd pass from REARDON, Colin (MELCHIORI, A. kick) 6 plays, 43 yards, TOP 1:49
ARMY 10, KENT 20
KENT - HUMPHREY, Chris 8 yd pass from REARDON, Colin (MELCHIORI, A. kick) 2 plays, 8 yards, TOP 0:12
ARMY 17, KENT 20
ARMY - Giovannelli, T. 8 yd run (Grochowski, D. kick), 8 plays, 77 yards, TOP 3:28
ARMY 17, KENT 23
KENT - MELCHIORI, A. 27 yd field goal 12 plays, 61 yards, TOP 4:48
ARMY 17, KENT 26
KENT - MELCHIORI, A. 32 yd field goal 8 plays, 70 yards, TOP 3:59
ARMY 17, KENT 33
KENT - PIERCE, Casey 5 yd pass from REARDON, Colin (MELCHIORI, A. kick) 5 plays, 69 yards, TOP 2:34
ARMY 17, KENT 39
KENT - REARDON, Colin 7 yd run (MELCHIORI, A. kickblocked), 3 plays, 37 yards, TOP 1:20
