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Inside center Andrew Harasz booted the game-winning penalty goal after the Midshipmen had committed a foul at the breakdown and gave up the kickable penalty.
Scrumhalf Ryan Dill, whose brother plays at Army, scored all three of the Hokies’ tries, while Harasz added the rest.
“The personality of these guys at Tech says it all and now the fruits of their labor of the last two years has paid off with this win,” Virginia Tech head coach Jon Conrad told ARN.
For Navy, four tries wasn’t enough to get the W even though they kicked a go-ahead penalty goal to take a 27-25 lead with about a minute to go, but then they infringed from the restart, giving the visitors an opportunity to clinch an unexpected victory.
“Give Virginia Tech full credit,” added Navy head coach Mike Flanagan. “They were tough on defense, great on offense, and never quit.”
Elsewhere in non-conference action, Penn State got by Ohio State 22-19. It was a battle up front with the Nittany Lions’ scrum getting the better of their Buckeye counterparts. OSU flanker Blake Cochran scored his side’s only try, while flyhalf Nate Ebner kicked four penalties and a conversion.
“It’s a game we absolutely should’ve won,” Ohio State head coach Tom Rooney told ARN. “We had our chances, but I am not unhappy about the way we played. Penn State had opportunities too that they didn’t finish.”
Meantime, Delaware opened its season with a 34-3 win against St Joe’s University. UD’s new captain and flanker Eric Bachman scored a couple of tries, as did sophomore flyhalf Pat Goldring.
“It was a good game,” Delaware head coach Bjorn Haglid told ARN. “We were trying to get the squad’s chemistry together because we have so many new guys, and we had great ball retention.”
And in another non-conference matchup, Kutztown belted Georgetown 64-19. KU totaled 10 tries to Georgetown’s three. Jim Fitzgerald (3) and eightman Dirk Scheepers (2) led the way for the Golden Bears.
“All in all it went pretty well and we’re working real hard on fitness,” said Kutztown head coach Gregg ‘Doc’ Jones.
