|
| No. 23 Boston College 25, Navy 24 |
By MIKE CRANSTON |
|
|
| Final Score |
| Navy Midshipmen |
24 |
| Boston College Eagles |
25 |
|
 |
| Boston College's Steve Aponavicius (83) and Chris Crane, back, celebrate after Aponavicius' game-winning field goal on the last play of Boston College's 25-24 win over Navy in the Meineke Car Care Bowl football game in Charlotte, N.C., Saturday, Dec. 30, 2006. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
|
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - It's fitting that Boston College's bizarre month would end with an improbable finish that made a hero
out of a walk-on kicker.
Steve Aponavicius kicked a career-best 37-yard field goal on the final play and the 23rd-ranked Eagles beat the Midshipmen
25-24 in the Meineke Bowl to extend the nation's current longest bowl-winning streak to seven.
``What they had to overcome and all the adversity,'' interim coach Frank Spaziani said. ``No one asked about Navy. Everyone
was talking about the situation.''
``The situation'' was former coach Tom O'Brien's stunning decision three weeks ago to leave BC for Atlantic Coast Conference
rival North Carolina State. Green Bay offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski was hired to replace him, but won't join the
team until the Packers' season is over.
Spaziani, the defensive coordinator and a former Navy assistant, has filled the gap and is expected to stay on as an assistant
under Jagodzinski. But several assistants are also expected to join O'Brien's staff.
For much of the game, it looked like the distractions would be too much to overcome for BC. Navy, the nation's top rushing
team, had 322 yards on the ground and seemingly had the game won.
BC (10-3) was out of timeouts and Navy only had to run out the final two minutes. But Reggie Campbell fumbled a pitch from
quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada and BC's Jolonn Dunbar recovered at the Navy 40 with 1:43 left.
Matt Ryan completed a 16-yard pass to tight end Ryan Purvis and Aponavicius, who played soccer - not football - in high school
and replaced the suspended Ryan Ohliger in midseason, calmly kicked the game-winner, setting off a wild celebration.
``Considering the circumstances for the past three or four weeks to get this win is really special, not only for the coaching
staff but it's also special for the players,'' Ryan said. ``All that we've been through to come out and win the way we did,
that's something that I'll always remember.''
Ryan completed 20-of-29 passes for 242 yards with a touchdown pass and a TD run, and overcame two interceptions and three
sacks.
Shun White rushed for 116 yards and Kaheaku-Enhada threw two touchdown passes for Navy (9-4), which had a four-game winning
streak snapped.
White's 53-yard run set up Kaheaku-Enhada's 24-yard touchdown pass to Jason Tomlinson, who made a juggling catch in triple
coverage, giving Navy a 21-13 lead midway through the second quarter.
BC got within 24-22 on Ryan's 25-yard touchdown pass to Purvis with 7:36 left in the game. Forced to go for a 2-point conversion
because of Aponavicius' missed extra point in the first quarter, Tony Gonzalez dropped Ryan's pass in the back of the end
zone.
But Campbell's fumble gave the Eagles - and Aponavicius - another chance.
``I'm kind of beating myself up,'' Campbell said. ``I dropped the ball. I was a good pitch. Even if it was high, my only job
is to catch the pitch and go with it. You just got take care of that.''
Aponavicius, who had never played organized football before going 2-for-2 on field goals against Virginia Tech on Oct. 12,
was mobbed by his teammates after the kick, which gave BC its first 10-win season since 1984, when Doug Flutie won the Heisman
Trophy.
``Just to play once was awesome, so to play for most of the season and to be able to win a game like that was more than I
could ever ask for,'' said Aponavicius, who finished the season 8-for-11 on field goals and will probably be replaced by a
scholarship kicker next season.
``We'll deal with that when it comes,'' he said.
Andre Callender rushed for 66 yards for the Eagles, taking over for L.V. Whitworth, who left with an apparent ankle injury
late in the first quarter.
Until late in the game, Navy's confusing triple-option offense caused the Eagles, who had the nation's 13th best run defense,
fits. Sloppy tackling and big gaps in the secondary allowed Navy to break off six runs of 16 or more yards.
``They were so big it took away almost everything we wanted to run inside,'' Navy coach Paul Johnson said. ``We had to make
it a perimeter game and in the second half they did a good job.''
Kaheaku-Enhada threw touchdown passes to Tyree Barnes and Tomlinson, sandwiched between Zerbin Singleton's 5-yard touchdown
run in the first half and Navy appeared poised to beat a ranked team for the first time this season.
``We came out with emotion and played with high emotion the whole game,'' Navy linebacker David Mahoney said. ``We went from
as high as you can possibly get to the lowest you can get when that field goal goes through.''
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
