Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
2-3
Ball State
1-4
Ground Game Carries Football Past Ball State
October 04, 2014 | Football
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WEST POINT, N.Y. - Any hope of a Ball State comeback was squashed by Army's rushing attack, which put together a 10-play, 75-yard drive to put the game out of reach late in the fourth quarter. The Army offense rushed for a total of 425 yards and four scores, led by Larry Dixon's career-high 188-yard output, on a rainy afternoon at Michie Stadium.
Clinging to a 27-24 lead after 14 straight points by Ball State, the Black Knights went back to work on offense and sealed the victory with the clinching drive that ate up nearly five minutes of game time. Army converted three third down situations, including quarterback Angel Santiago's 11-yard touchdown run that extended the lead to two possessions.
Terry Baggett, who had a 39-yard run on the final drive, finished the afternoon with 64 rushing yards on five carries, while Santiago churned out 89 yards on the ground. Tony Giovannelli contributed 35 yards on six carries, Raymond Maples added 16 on four opportunities and starting quarterback A.J. Schurr had 15 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Aaron Kemper also ran for 10 yards, including a nine-yard break for a touchdown in the third quarter.
Santiago completed his afternoon 2-for-3 passing for 48 yards, with receptions by Edgar Poe and Maples. Ball State's quarterback Ozzie Mann was 18-for-26 for 173 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. Jahwan Edwards compiled 186 yards of total offense, with 142 on the ground and two rushing touchdowns.
Defensively, Andrew King totaled 10 tackles to lead the Black Knights on that side of the football. Daniel Grochowski converted both of his field goal attempts, hitting from 43 and 21 yards.
Army seized the momentum immediately when Chris Carnegie forced and recovered a fumble by Edwards on the game's second play from scrimmage. Army's first possession began with great field position, a recurring theme for the Black Knights, at the Ball State 29-yard line. A 16-yard scamper off the right side on third-and-13 by Schurr put the Army offense in the red zone and after a couple of runs by Dixon, Schurr punched it in with a QB sneak from a yard out to put the Black Knights ahead 7-0.
Ball State responded midway through the first quarter when an Army fumble gave the Cardinals possession at their own 44-yard line. On the first play after the turnover, Edwards took an inside handoff, made a man miss and went 56 yards to paydirt for Ball State's lone TD of the opening half.
Army wasted no time with its rebuttal, taking advantage of a 39-yard kickoff return by Josh Jenkins and a 40-yard run up the gut by Dixon. On second down from the fifteen yard line, Schurr's pitch attempt was ruled a fumble and recovered on the field by the defense, before being overturned on a review when the officials determined his toss was a forward pass. Then, a roughing the passer penalty on third down put Army in first and goal before Schurr's second sneak helped Army to a 14-7 lead prior to Grochowski's successful extra point. The six-play, 56 yard drive lasted only 2:20 as Army led 14-7 with 4:13 left in the initial quarter.
The visitors started their next drive in Army territory after Eric Patterson's 48-yard kickoff return. Facing a fourth-and-one from the Army 42, Mann mishandled the snap and was bottled up in the backfield as the Black Knights took over on downs.
Army was unable to continue its ensuing drive and Alex Tardieu's punt was downed at the one yard line by Steven Johnson early in the second quarter. Three straight runs by Ball State yielded only five yards before the Cardinals were forced to punt from their own endzone. The punt was mishandled by Jenkins, but Jared Rogers came out of the pile with the football at the Ball State 44.
The recovery led to a successful 43-yard field by Grochowski which pushed Army's cushion to 17-7 with 9:09 left in the half.
The lead held at 10 points for Army until Ball State handed off to Edwards on consecutive carries (27 and 34 yards) that put them into first-and-goal from the Army five yard line. The Army defense solidified and forced a Ball State field goal, which was good from 23-yards out by Scott Secor.
With 2:16 to play until halftime, back-to-back keepers by Santiago put Army at the Ball State 11-yard line. The Black Knights were unable to move the chains or score another touchdown and settled for a 21-yard Grochowski kick that sent Army into the break with a 20-10 advantage.
Dixon rushed for 118 yards on 14 carries in the first half, eclipsing 100 yards in a game for the ninth time in his career, tying him for seventh in Academy history with Charlie Jarvis.
Army opened the second half with a long drive that ended with a fourth down stop at the Ball State one-yard line. Army ran the ball 13 times for a total of 74 yards, including runs by Terry Baggett (23 yards) and Dixon (25 yards), before Santiago was cut down short of the goal line on fourth and goal from the two.
The Army defense was up to the task again and forced its fourth punt of the contest. Five plays later, the Army offense extended its lead to 27-10 on Kemper's nine-yard run on first and goal. Kemper's first score of the year was set up by a 37-yard toss from Santiago to Poe, who hauled in the pass for his only reception of the day. The reception was the longest of Poe's career.
Ball State remained in the game with a nine-play 74 yard drive that was capped off by Edwards' six-yard carry. The scoring drive pulled the Cardinals within 10 points as Army held a 27-17 lead at the end of three quarters.
Following a three-and-out forced by the Cardinals defense, Mann engineered another touchdown drive that drew Ball State within three points. The nine-play, 71-yard drive ended with a six-yard pass from Mann to his tight end Dylan Curry, to trim the deficit to 27-24.
Santiago's 11-yard TD burst late in the fourth quarter made it a nine-point Army lead, before Jeremy Timpf's interception polished off Army's second win of the season. Timpf's pick was his third in as many contests.
Army hosts Rice next Saturday in a noon kickoff at Michie Stadium.
Team Stats
BALL 0, ARMY 7
ARMY - Schurr, A.J. 1 yd run (Grochowski, D. kick), 7 plays, 29 yards, TOP 3:15
BALL 7, ARMY 7
BALL - EDWARDS, Jahwan 56 yd run (SECOR, Scott kick), 1 plays, 56 yards, TOP 0:13
BALL 7, ARMY 14
ARMY - Schurr, A.J. 1 yd run (Grochowski, D. kick), 6 plays, 56 yards, TOP 2:20
BALL 7, ARMY 17
ARMY - Grochowski, D. 43 yd field goal 7 plays, 18 yards, TOP 3:52
BALL 10, ARMY 17
BALL - SECOR, Scott 22 yd field goal 6 plays, 61 yards, TOP 2:11
BALL 10, ARMY 20
ARMY - Grochowski, D. 21 yd field goal 6 plays, 72 yards, TOP 2:09
BALL 10, ARMY 27
ARMY - Kemper, Aaron 9 yd run (Grochowski, D. kick), 5 plays, 61 yards, TOP 2:39
BALL 17, ARMY 27
BALL - EDWARDS, Jahwan 6 yd run (SECOR, Scott kick), 9 plays, 74 yards, TOP 3:00
BALL 24, ARMY 27
BALL - CURRY, Dylan 6 yd pass from MANN, Ozzie (SECOR, Scott kick) 9 plays, 71 yards, TOP 4:11
BALL 24, ARMY 33
ARMY - Santiago, Angel 11 yd run (Schurr, A.J. passfailed), 10 plays, 75 yards, TOP 4:54
