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Notre Dame College Beats Navy

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Notre Dame College Beats Navy

Teams line up for the National Anthem on Saturday.

Notre Dame College used defensive pressure to stymie a tough US Naval Academy side and come away with an impressive 27-8 victory over the Midshipmen in South Euclid, Ohio Saturday.

The game was marked by a special 9-11 ceremony before the game, and was attended by the NDC President and Athletic Director. As such, it was a key moment for the Falcons to put their best foot forward, and they did just that. 

"Our defense set it up for us, and that's how we've wanted to start the season," said NDC Head Coach Jason Fox. "We put a lot of defensive pressure on them, and all of our good attacking opportunities came from good defensive structure."

The combination of Corey Graham at flyhalf and Marcus Tupuola at fullback was devastating. Graham has a superb sidestep and ran the offense nicely, but it times Tupuola would step in at first receiver, changing up the look, and if Navy kicked, there was the speedy Graham ready to counterattack. 

"We had some good scoring opportunities," said Navy Head Coach Mike Flanagan. "But too often we put the ball on the ground. The same old story for us. The guys we expected to play well did play well. We did some good things. But we're not there yet. Notre Dame College is a really good team."

Certainly that seems to be assessment as the Falcons have started the season on fire. They played with game without Zach Forro and Alec Janotka, two of their higher-profile players. It was odd especially for Forro to miss the game. The 9-11 ceremony, which included a color guard, was in part to honor the military and first responded. Forro is in the military now, but was called up to active duty for this weekend and had to miss the game.

Next up for Navy will be a trip to Dartmouth on Saturday. Notre Dame College, 3-0 after beating Wheeling Jesuit, St. Bonaventure, and Navy, will visit Middle Tennessee State next week and then Davenport a week after that.