Amaris Umbarger watched from the bright blue Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium seats in the first quarter when emotion struck her.
She watched her son, Archbishop Spalding product Jayden Umbarger, emerge from behind the line of scrimmage with the football hooked under his arm and speed up the sideline.
“His [Jayden’s] grandmother passed away about a year ago, before she had a chance to see him play,” Amaris Umbarger said. “All I could think about, if she was here now, how proud she would be of him at that moment.”
The mostly flavorless offensive performance and wet-paper nature of the defense gave Navy fans little to smile about during Saturday’s season-opening 49-7 loss to Marshall.