NEW LONDON, Conn. -  The Norwich University Football team came out of the half with explosive plays on the mind, as using a 78-yard touchdown on their first play after the break on their way to down Coast Guard, 24-21, in a NEWMAC matchup Saturday afternoon.

With the win, Norwich holds on to the "Mug", the trophy awarded to the winner of the Little Army-Navy Game, with their second straight victory over the Bears. This is the first time Norwich has defeated Coast Guard in back to back contests since the "Mug" resided in Northfield, Vt. with victories in 2002, 2003, and 2004.

Defensively the Cadets used three forced turnovers to hold the Bears offense to 314 yards on the day, with only 85 of those yards through the air.  Jeremy Henault (Goffstown, N.H.) had a total of five tackles on the game, including one in the Bears backfield, and grabbed a pair of interceptions, to pair with another pass breakup. Noah Knight (Rochelle, Ill.) also added four tackles, and Zev Motew (Highland Park, Ill.) added four of his own.

The offense was run through Justin Bryant (Eliot, Maine), who had 125 yards on the ground, and Trevor Chase (Eliot, Maine) who nabbed eight passes for 155 total yards and two touchdowns, including 106 yards after the catch. Haleola Thomas (Waianae, Hawaii) also was heavily involved in the offense as he totaled four catches for 107 yards. Quarterback Mitchell Theal (Elma, N.Y.) went 16-of-33 for 274 yards and a pair of scores in the victory.

Norwich (2-3, 1-0 NEWMAC) was able to get on the board first after an opening drive powered by six Bryant rushes, stalled out at the Coast Guard 11-yardline.  Zach Buchy (Suffolk, Va.) then converted on a 30-yard field goal attempt to put the Cadets up 3-0.

The lone touchdown of the first half came off an intercepted pass by the Bears Ethan Lasher in the second quarter, who returned it 80-yards for the touchdown, and a 7-3 Coast Guard lead.

In the second half, scoring occurred often in the opening drives for the Cadets and Bears. Norwich opened up the third quarter with a 78-yard connection by Theal to Chase for a Cadet score on the opening play.  Coast Guard quickly responded with an 84-yard rush by Jared Colletti, on their opening offensive play to retake the lead 14-10 with only 35 seconds of the clock in the third quarter.

Coast Guard (2-3, 0-1 NEWMAC) took the ball away from Norwich on their ensuing drive with Lasher's second interception of the day at the Coast Guard 32-yard line. Henault on the very next play intercepted a pass from Tafari Wall, leading to a 9 play, 63-yard drive that resulted with the second Theal to Chase touchdown of the day.

In the fourth quarter, Wall capped off a 5 play, 43-yard drive with a two-yard rush to put the Bears up 21-17. Norwich responded on the ensuing possession, with a 11 play, 74-yard drive, that resulted with Bryant punching through the Bears goal line defense for a touchdown with 7:00 remaining.

Norwich will take on Merchant Marine next week for Parents and Family weekend at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 9, before playing host to Springfield on Saturday, Oct. 16.