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| The Mariners average nearly 400 yards rushing per game, and Ian Blankenship gets 128 of those, while throwing for more than 100 yards per game as well. Merchant Marine athletics photo by Sheridan King |
By Joe Sager
D3sports.com
The United States Merchant Marine Academy prepares its Midshipmen for a career at sea.
However, the Mariners are using a ground assault to climb up the rankings on the football field.
Merchant Marine has won a program-record nine in a row, dating back to 2019. The squad is 6-0 this season for the first time since 1968. A productive triple-option offense is leading the way and churning up the turf.
The Mariners rank first in the country with 392.5 rushing yards per game. The team ranks seventh at 49.5 points scored per game.
“It’s always good to put points up on the board,” Merchant Marine senior quarterback Ian Blankenship said. “We’re in a championship mindset, though. We focus more on what we can do better. Every team we’ve played so far, we’ve left some points out there. Fixing those little mistakes is really what we’re focusing on.”
Blankenship has been a key for the Mariners’ offense. The team was limited to one game last season due to COVID-19 precautions, but he’s provided leadership in his first full season as a starter.
“We were fortunate Ian got some time as sophomore. Last year, we thought he played well in our one game. He is doing really well for us this year,” said Merchant Marine’s Mike Toop, who is in his 17th year as head coach in Kings Point, New York. “We’re fortunate that we have a number of guys who can run the ball. We have four fullbacks we’re very comfortable getting into the game. Ian Blankenship is doing a good job directing things. The biggest thing, obviously in this offense, is you have to be able to read it and know when to pull it or pitch it. He is doing a great job reading it. It all starts up front, though, and those guys are doing a great job.”
Behind the starting offensive line of left guard Nathan Mars, left tackle Jacob Berault, center Matthew Goldade, right guard Randy Ruple and right tackle Gavin Smith, the Mariners have enjoyed space and time in which to find gaps. Blankenship leads the way with 768 yards rushing, while Matt Strong (373), Ceaser Gonzalez (316), Matthew Savard (286), Brian McGovern (145), Alex Kiernan (133) and Jeremiah Wang (131) all have rushed for at least 100 yards.
“The coaches have put us in a great position to do what we do,” Blankenship said. “We’re just reading it up. The fullbacks and slot guys are blocking well. I can’t speak to how big the guys up front are in this offense. They are the reason it’s going like it is.”
Blankenship has passed for 661 yards and eight scores, too.
“The nice thing is Ian can throw the ball and we have been able to make some plays in the passing game,” Toop said.
Defensively, Merchant Marine is allowing 19.5 points per game. The team’s rushing defense ranks sixth in the country at 52.5 yards per outing.
“Defensively, we’re trying to do our best to keep up with the offense. We’ve come together really well this year,” said linebacker Eric Davidson, the Mariners’ leading tackler. “I have been pretty happy with how we’ve done. Every game, we look back and see things we need to touch up on, though. I’ve been pleased with our run defense. It can get better each week. We’re going for the No. 1 defense in the nation.”
The Mariners face an aerial threat this Saturday against Catholic (5-2), which is unbeaten in NEWMAC play (3-0) as well. The Cardinals average 286.4 yards through the air.
“We’re playing well on defense now, for sure,” Toop said. “Defensively, we’ve been a little inconsistent in the pass game. That’s a major concern because they can flat out throw the ball.”
“Catholic is undefeated in the conference and it’s going to be a battle,” Davidson said. “We expect it to be strength on strength. We have to come out and handle business if we want to stay undefeated.”
Focus hasn’t been a problem for Merchant Marine, which is one of five federal service academies (Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard are the others). Every single Midshipman at Merchant Marine is working toward Coast Guard licenses to become officers on vessels in the maritime industry. In order to get their license, they are required to spend a year out at sea (called “Sea Year”) for an internship to gain the experience needed to sit for the license exams their senior year. Sea Year is four months of their sophomore year and eight months of their junior year.
So, this group of seniors was ready to get back to football once they returned from sea.
“This group has a done a really, really strong job as far as leadership goes as a group. The underclassmen have followed them, which has helped,” Toop said. “That’s what this place is about. It’s all about leadership and development. All of our guys, whether they go active duty or into the maritime industry, are going to be leaders and officers. That’s what we do. They do it on a day-in and day-out basis. It carries over.”
Spending so much time on a vessel at sea can have its challenges, especially when trying to stay in football shape.
“It’s tough. That’s what makes us different and separates us from everyone else. We have to work that much harder and show that much more grit to try to stay in the best shape we can,” Blankenship said. “You get out on a ship and go pretty much all over the world. It’s pretty cool. I come from a small town in Georgia and a lot of people my age haven’t even left the state. I am really fortunate. But, depending upon the ship you’re on, there might not be any workout rooms or treadmills. We’ve had people build squat racks and workout sets out of whatever they could piece together. We run around the ship if we have to – anything we can do to stay in the best shape we can.”
“Each ship is different. Some of them have nicer gyms than others. Some don’t have any at all. I was fortunate to have a decent gym on my ship. The work is pretty physical as well,” Davidson added. “Overall, it’s tough, but that’s why we come here. We want to be prepared for the future. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I know the rest of the guys wouldn’t have it any other way as well. It helps with your mental toughness. We have to push through certain boundaries other teams don’t and that helps us on the field.”
After having last season severely altered and limited to one game against Coast Guard, the Mariners were determined to make the most of this fall.
“After last year, I think we came to the realization that it could be stripped away from us just like that,” Davidson said. “We’ve been fortunate we’ve been able to work through a whole season. We know every practice and game is not guaranteed, so we have to make the most of every chance.”
“It was really rough for the seniors last year to only play in one game,” Blankenship added. “We made it our mission to make it count this year. We’re playing for our seniors from last year, too, so they can live through us a little bit.”
