Site Overlay

Army starts with a win, blows by Morgan State

Army beats Morgan State - Photo by Danny Wild

There were rumors floating around Michie Stadium on Friday afternoon that Army would start the season with a pass on the first play. Army? Passing? Yeah, right. And after a defensive stop on the season’s first drive, Army struck when junior QB Angel Santiago dropped back and connected on the first play of the season.

Army kept it up, scoring 21 points in the first half and holding on to beat Morgan State, 28-12, in the 2013 season opener on Friday night in West Point.

“Angel did some great stuff,” Army head coach Rich Ellerson said, winning a season opener for the third time in five seasons at West Point. “The best thing about Angel’s performance was, the ball’s not on the ground. We took some chances for the ball to be on the ground, he took some shots, and the ball goes through his hands on every snap. That kind of play at quarterback will give you a great chance.”

The game was only the 10th night game in 89 years at Michie Stadium and showcased an Army team that looked younger, passed more, played well on defense and sported a slightly updated uniform.

Here’s some of my images from the game on Army’s website.

Below is some of my perspective from the game. Early on, I snapped this portrait of Hayden Pierce during pregame warmups:

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

The weather was nice (at least to jump, it was crazy humid) so I mingled with the cadets and caught some of the parachute team jumpers above:

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

Here’s the jumper who had the game ball (not the actual one used on the kickoff, but it’s presented to the refs for the coin toss:

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

Army takes the field with the 1st Infantry Division flag. FB Hayden Tippett carried the American flag. I believe that’s the Dean on the far right. A nice moment here as well, if you look closely at the middle of this photo (click it to view larger) you’ll see Army Staff Sgt. Ty Carter running out with the team. SSG Carter was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Obama earlier in the week, and he was later recognized in a moment during the game:

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

Morgan State a historically black college in Baltimore, Maryland that I was not familiar with until this game. I ended up providing their Athletics staff with some images from the game as well.

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

Thomas Holloway is one of Army’s new captains:

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

Geoffery Bacon had a big game with a dozen tackles:

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

Santiago rolled out the Heisman pose on his very first play:

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

 

Here’s Bacon getting his helmet ripped off on a tackle:

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

 

Joe Drummond (54) reacts after a sack:

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

Army coach Rich Ellerson looks like he’s about to explode while watching the offense work:

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

Patrick Laird jokes with a teammate:

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

Here’s SSG Carter during a media timeout on the field in which he was acknowledge by fans:

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

SSG Carter is one of two Medal of Honor recipients who is still on active duty.

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

 

Here’s Bobby Kough. You’ll notice here I played with my camera’s white balance to find something I liked. This came off much cooler and flatter, I thought:

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

 

Whereas this setting produced a warmer hue that played out the gold in the helmets and crowd I thought:

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

 

Raymond Maples gets a lead block from Larry Dixon on this outside option run:
NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

Halftime came with the marching band, mules and eventually fireworks at Michie:

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

I didn’t have much time to shoot the fireworks as I wanted to run to the media room and file images for USA Today Sports:

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

Earlier in the first half I was itching to shoot the (rare) sunset at Michie from the top of the East stands, but Army’s offense was so efficient, I couldn’t sneak away and risk missing the action. Instead, I snapped this with my second camera body:

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

Still pretty weird to shoot these kinds of photos and have it not be Trent Steelman:NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

Richard Glover reacts after a sack:NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

Ryan Powis looks over at the sidelines for a play:

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

I believe this is Bobby Kough taking a breather on the bench:NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

Here’s Kyle Maxwell reacting to a big Army defensive stop:

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

Finally, the alma mater and celebration photos. I only had a chance for two of these occasions last year (Boston College and Air Force) so it was nice to get this shot on Day 1. The stadium lights added a nice glow to the background and contrast to the night sky:

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

A similar shot from this sequence was featured in ESPN.com’s Best of Week 1 photo gallery:

Captain Momo Kime celebrates the win with the Corps:

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

Lamar Johnson-Harris celebrates the win:

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

Here’s Holloway, post-game:

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

Steve Schumaker:

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

Ellerson did smile a few times, believe it or not. This was not one of those times:NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

NCAA Football: Morgan State at Army

Scroll Up