Austin Grebe kicked a 24-yard field goal with one minute, 27 seconds to play Tuesday night to give Navy a 17-16 victory over San Diego State in the 10th annual Poinsettia Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium.
The Aztecs drove to Midshipmen’s 17-yard line on the ensuing possession, but Donald Hageman missed a potential game-winning 34-yard field goal wide left with 20 seconds remaining.
Hageman had given San Diego State a 16-14 lead with 4:16 left in the third quarter when he kicked his third field goal, a 30-yarder. Hageman kicked a 43-yard field goal in the first quarter and a 37-yard field goal in the second.
Sophomore Donnel Pumphrey rushed for 112 yards on 21 carries, including a 5-yard touchdown in the first quarter, to become the Aztecs’ single-season rushing leading with 1,867 yards. The previous record of 1,842 was set by George Jones in 1995.
Quarterback Keenan Reynolds rushed for both touchdowns for Navy (8-5) in its fourth consecutive victory and sixth in its final seven games.
Reynolds ran 1-yard for a score on the Midshipmen’s first possession, 10 plays after sophomore linebacker Daniel Gonzales intercepted a pass by Quinn Kaehler and returned it 29 yards to San Diego State 42-yard line.
Reynolds ran six yards for a touchdown on the opening series of the third quarter, completing an all-rushing, 13-play, 92-yard drive when Chris Swain had 24- and 19-yard gains and Reynolds ran for 20 yards on six carries in Navy’s triple-option offense.
The Aztecs (7-6) outgained Navy, 327 yards to 271 and led in first downs, 18-10.
Kaehler completed 11 of 27 passes for 141 yards and had two passes intercepted. Reynolds completed three of seven passes for 17 yards. Swain ran for a team-high 72 yards on eight carries.
The loss ended San Diego State’s eight-game winning streak and was its first to Navy after victories in each of their three previous meetings, including the 2010 Poinsettia Bowl.
The announced attendance was 33,077, the sixth-most in Poinsettia Bowl history.
“I thought it was a great football game,” Aztecs coach Rocky Long said. “I thought both teams played extremely hard. I thought both defenses played really, really well and both offenses struggled.”
Navy is responsible for each of the Poinsettia Bowl’s three largest crowds — 48,049 for the 2010 game, which was also against San Diego State; 39,129 for the 2007 game against Utah; and 36,842 for the inaugural 2005 game against Colorado State.
The Poinsettia Bowl drew a record-low crowd of 23,408 for last year’s game between Northern Illinois and Utah State when it was played after Christmas for the only time in its history.
—City News Service
