WBAL NewsRadio 1090 is excited to bring you the 115th Army-Navy Game. Niumatalolo was extremely emotional after the win and was visibly crying during the playing of Navy’s Alma Mater. The Midshipmen fell just short of winning the American Athletic conference with a loss to the Houston Cougars a week ago.
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The game kicks off at 3 p.m. ET at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. After the game, Carter said Army expected more blitzes from Navy.
Navy trailed at the break for the first time in the series since being behind 3-0 in 2009.
The Black Knights, with freshman Chris Carter making his second career start at quarterback, struck first on a Daniel Grochowski field goal.
Navy senior quarterback Keenan Reynolds was once again the difference, running for 136 yards on 21 carries with two touchdowns.
Reynolds gave Navy the lead for good when he connected with wide receiver Jamir Tillman on a 50-yard bomb down the right sideline with 5:51 left in the third quarter, making it 21-17 after the extra point. Fullback Chris Swain has been an impact player for the Midshipmen this year and has rushed for 847 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Army WR Edgar Allen Poe caught a touchdown pass late in the 1st half to give Army the lead.
KEY STAT: In 2001, the year before Navy began its long winning streak, Army held a 49-46-7 all-time advantage in the series.
Additionally, Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds set an FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) record for career-rushing touchdowns during this season and, if he gets one more, he will tie the Division 1 record that was set in 2006 by Georgia Southern’s Adrian Peterson. He set a Division I record with his 85th career rushing touchdown and finished this season with 2,306 total yards and 28 total touchdowns.
But Army was unable to score in the second half.
A Navy Midshipman is tossed in the air as Navy fans celebrate a touchdown during an NCAA college football game against Army and Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015, in Philadelphia. He was sacked three times, all in the second half.
So Navy, trailing in the third quarter, called upon the arm of Reynolds to spark an offense that gained only 16 yards on its previous four drives. Three of those Army fourth quarter drives ended in turnovers while another culminated in a missed 29-yard field goal.
With Navy holding on to just a 14-10 lead, the Army offense was threatening from the 39-yard line and all it took was one play for them to stun Navy by taking the lead.
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In what is billed as “America’s Game”, Navy (9-2) has defeated archrival Army (2-9) a series-best 13 consecutive times and in 15 of their last 16 meetings. In the final minute of the game, Army elected to try a trick play where wideout DeAndre Bell threw a pass deep to the end zone in attempts to take the lead.
