Midshipmen Down Black Knights 31-13 in 125th Edition of ‘America’s Game’

LANDOVER, Md. — Maybe it was the skull and crossbones of the “Jolly Rogers” uniforms. Perhaps it was not scoring on 4th-and-Inches in a loss a year ago. Or, maybe, it was the need to hire a new offensive coordinator in order to break through the defensive line. Whatever it was seemed to work for Navy as they downed the Army Black Knights 31-13 in the 125th meeting of “America’s Game” in front of 60,726 at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland on Saturday afternoon.

Army won the coin toss and deferred the opening kick. Right from the start, quarterback Blake Horvath went to work running the offense in a long, sustained opening drive that covered 65 yards on 12 plays and chewed up just over six minutes off the clock.

Horvath rushed up the middle for five yards. Running back Alex Tecza rushed up the middle for three yards more. Running back Amin Hassan rushed on the right side for two yards. Three plays, three players, three rushes, ten yards.

Navy did open up their passing game in the first possession with an incomplete pass intended for Nathan Kent at the Army 30-yard line, which was broken up by Black Knights safety Casey Larkin. However, on 3rd-and-8 at the Navy 47 yard line, Horvath passed to Tecza on the right side of the line at midfield, but dropped the ball and recovered his own fumble on the Army 22-yard line for a 31 yard gain.

Offensive coordinator Drew Cronic got fancy and ran wide receiver Luke Hutchinson on a reverse play that netted two yards. Horvath then ran up the middle for what he thought was a seven-yard touchdown, but the play was overturned on review as Horvath was down by contact “short of the goal line.” He scored the game’s first touchdown on a one-yard rush up the middle on the very next play. Kicker Nathan Kirkwood made the extra point attempt and Navy jumped out to the quick 7-0 lead with 8:56 left in the first quarter.

The Black Knights, wearing “Screaming Eagles” uniforms in honor of the 101st Airborne Division at the Battle of the Bulge, started their first drive at the Army 25-yard line and immediately hit the ground running also. Running back Kanye Udoh took the first handoff for a five-yard gain up the middle. Quarterback Bryson Daily rushed for four yards, and then again for one more yard and a fresh set of downs. Udoh and Daily each rushed again for short yardage before Daily threw an incomplete pass intended for running back Hayden Reed to bring up fourth down. James Wagenseller booted a 37 yard punt to the Navy 25-yard line, which Rayuan Lane III returned for a 1-yard loss.

Running back Eli Heidenreich got involved in the offense on Navy’s second possession. He rushed up the middle for five yards and then rushed to the left of the line for another three yards. Horvath rushed up the middle for a six yard gain and the first down. On the next play, however, Horvath was pitching the ball to Hassan which ended up as a fumble at the Navy 31-yard line. Horvath jumped on it to recover the fumble at the Navy 24-yard line, sustaining a 14 yard loss on the play. Horvath then rushed twice to try to recover some of the yardage but punter Riley Reithman came on to punt the ball back to the Black Knights at their 12-yard line.

On the first play of Army’s next possession, Daily threw deep to Reed at the Army 24-yard line but it sailed past the receiver. Daily was hit by linebacker Colin Ramos as he threw the ball, leading to its misdirection. Two plays later, the quarter ended with 4th-and-1 on the Army 21-yard line and Navy holding onto the early 7-0 lead.

Daily rushed up the middle to pick up the one yard necessary for the first down. Udoh rushed up the middle but was stopped by defensive linemen Landon Robinson and Justin Reed for a one-yard loss. Daily rushed up the middle again for a three yard gain forcing a 3rd-and-8 situation. Daily was hurried by Justin Reed and his throw ended up in the arms of Navy cornerback Dashaun Peele for the interception. It’s was the 10th interception of Peele’s career and his fifth of the season putting him in 3rd place in the FBS interceptions category.

Horvath took over for Navy, beginning the drive at the Army West Point 44-yard line. He rushed up the middle for five yards. Then he rushed left for a 21 yard gain. Then he passed to running back Brandon Chatman for an 18 yard touchdown. Kirkwood’s extra point gave Navy the 14-0 lead with 11:30 left in the half.

Army West Point began their next drive on their 35-yard line with another ground attack. With five consecutive rushing plays between Daily, Udoh and running back Noah Short, Army West Point advanced the ball 19 yards but left them with a 4th-and-3 situation near midfield. Daily passed right to wide receiver Casey Reynolds who not only picked up the first down, but gained 18 yards on the play. Two plays later he hit Hayden Reed for a 23-yard touchdown pass. Trey Gronotte’s extra point was good and Navy led 14-7 with 6:29 left in the half.

The defenses for both teams stepped up their game in the next two possessions. Navy was held to five plays, 39 yards in their next possession, with 37 of the yards coming from a single rush by Horvath before Navy’s Riethman punted. Army West Point gained 11 yards on six plays in their possession but Robinson forced Daily to fumble, which Daily recovered, preventing a long gain, and then offensive lineman Paolo Gennarelli jumped offsides. Army punted the ball away.

When Navy got the ball again, the Army defense held them to 14 yards on five plays, including a sack on Horvath by linebacker Elo Modozie. Reithman punted 42 yards to the Army 9-yard line. Daily came on for the kneel down and Navy maintained the 14-7 halftime lead.

Army received the ball and began the third quarter with a new sense of urgency. Slowly and methodically, Daily handed off to Udoh four consecutive times for rushing plays up the middle. On 4th-and-1 near midfield, Daily threw to Short at the Navy 20-yard line, which was incomplete. However, Navy cornerback Andrew Duhart was assessed a 15 yard pass interference penalty to keep the drive alive at the Navy 34-yard line.

Navy defense continued to contain the Black Knights as the drive ended with a 39-yard field goal by Gronotte. Navy led 14-10 with 8:15 left in the third quarter. The Black Knights ran 11 plays for 47 yards and took 6:40 off the clock.

Gronotte kicked off to the Navy goal line, which running back Isaiah Bryant returned 42 yards to begin the drive in good field position. Horvath rushed up the middle for three yards. Tecza rushed up the left side for three more yards. Then on 3rd-and-4 at the Navy 48, Horvath passed to Heidenreich, who grabbed the football at the Black Knights 42-yard line and dashed to the end zone for a touchdown. Once he crossed the goal line, he spiked the football in a way that would make New York Giants wide receiver Homer Jones proud. He was assessed a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct for the spike. Kirkwood’s extra point put Navy up 21-10 with 6:34 left in the third quarter.

Black Knights running back Miles Stewart fielded the kickoff at the Army 28-yard line and returned it 13 yards to the 41, where the drive began. The Navy defense held Army to four yards in the first three plays of the drive. On 4th-and-6 from the Army 45-yard line, after the Black Knights burned through their first timeout of the half, Daily threw an incomplete pass intended for Reynolds at midfield. Multiple yellow flags littered the field. The pass interference penalty was declined as linebacker Kenneth McShan was called for roughing the passer. The officials also reviewed the play for targeting but did not assess McShan with the penalty. It was the second time in the game that Army West Point was able to make the 4th down conversion because of a penalty. Daily then hit Hayden Reed for a five-yard reception before running off six consecutive rushing plays to end the quarter with Navy holding the 21-10 lead.

Army West Point was facing 2nd-and-9 at the Navy 14 when the final frame began. Daily threw incomplete to Reynolds in the back of the end zone. Then he threw it to Short in the back of the end zone, which was broken up by safety Rayuan Lane III. The Army drive ended with a 31-yard field goal by Gronotte to make the score 21-13 in favor of Navy with 14:44 left in the game.

Remembering that they were down by an eight point margin a year ago, Navy knew they needed a long scoring drive if they were going to finish victorious and erase the bitter taste of defeat from a year earlier. That’s exactly what they set out to do.

The Midshipmen began the drive at the Navy 25-yard line. Horvath rushed left for seven yards. Then he rushed right for ten more. Tecza rushed to the right for two yards. Heidenreich rushed up the middle for a yard. Horvath rushed left for two.

Suddenly it was 4th-and-5 at the Navy 47-yard line. Reithman came onto the field to punt. The ball was snapped to Landon Robinson, the 6-foot-0 278-pound junior guard from Fairlawn, Ohio, who took off running down the left sideline to the Army West Point 27-yard line where he fumbled the ball. Colin Ramos recovered the fumble at the Army 24-yard line and new life was breathed into the Midshipmen drive.

Horvath then ran the next four plays himself, finishing with a one-yard rushing touchdown up the middle. Kirkwood’s extra point made it 28-13 in favor of the Midshipmen with 8:50 left in the contest. Navy used 10 plays to go 75 yards, but more importantly, they took 5:49 off the clock.

Playing from behind is something that the Black Knights weren’t used to doing. Now they had less than nine minutes in which to score two touchdowns and at least one two-point conversion.

Daily threw short right to wide receiver Cam Schurr, who went out of bounds. Daily then rushed up the middle for five yards. Nathan Short was held to a three-yard loss. On 2nd-and-13 from the Army 32-yard line, Daily dropped back and passed for Schurr. The ball deflected off of Navy cornerback Andrew Duhart and into the hands of McShan for the interception near midfield. Duhart was assessed a personal foul for unnecessary roughness after the play ended, backing the Midshipmen up to their 33-yard line instead of beginning the drive in Army territory with 7:24 remaining on the clock.

Horvath rushed up the middle for seven yards to begin the drive. He broke the next play open up the middle for a 48-yard run before being brought down by Black Knights cornerback Justin Weaver at the Army 12-yard line. Heidenreich took the next handoff to the right for a 12-yard touchdown run but it was called back on a holding penalty by Brandon Chatman. Tecza ran twice then Army called their final timeout of the game. Horvath then rushed up the middle for five yards. Navy called timeout as the play clock was about to expire. With 4th-and-8 at the Army 10-yard line, Kirkwood made a 27-yard field goal to give the Midshipmen a 31-13 lead with only 3:45 left.

Stewart returned kicker Lance Gossett’s kickoff 16 yards to the Army 34-yard line. Daily threw towards Reynolds but Navy linebacker Luke Pirris intercepted the pass at the 37-yard line.

Navy running back Daba Fofana rushed left for a three-yard loss. Then Heidenreich carried twice for 13 yards to get the first down at the Two Minute Timeout. With Army unable to call timeout, Horvath kneeled three times to run out the clock. Navy won 31-13.

Blake Horvath went 4-for-9 for 107 passing yards and two passing touchdowns to lead the Midshipmen. Horvath also rushed 24 times for 196 yards and two rushing touchdowns. Alex Tecza carried nine times for 32 yards; Eli Heidenreich rushed six times for 19 yards; and Landon Robinson carried once for 29 yards. Heidenreich caught one pass for 52 yards; Tecza grabbed one reception for 31 yards; Brandon Chatman caught one pass for 18 yards and Nathan Kent hauled in one reception for six yards. Horvath was sacked once.

“I’m ecstatic. Hats off to Army, that’s a heck of a football team that we beat tonight. I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for their team and those players and what they’re going to do when they get done there. I couldn’t be more proud and happy for our players and especially our seniors. They talk about leaving a legacy this year and they certainly did that,” said Navy head coach Brian Newberry.

“Blake’s [Horvath] been great all year. He’s a tough, tough young man. He’s battled through some things. We were ecstatic to get him back. You’re talking about a guy that didn’t even make honorable mention all-conference. I thought that he out-played that guy on the other side today, truth be told. I’m just really, really proud of him. I’m proud of our football team. I thought we played complementary football today. I thought we battled, fought, clawed, scratched, did everything that we could to win this game. I couldn’t be more proud or happy for our players,” Newberry added.

“There was zero hesitancy in our gameplan, in our play calling, or in how we played. We knew what the plan was and we executed really well on that first drive. Our goal all season has been to start games fast. At the end of the year we didn’t do that very well so it was great to start this one that way,” said Horvath.

Bryson Daily went 7-for-16 with one touchdown and three interceptions to go along with 65 yards passing to lead the Black Knights. Hayden Reed caught three passes for 29 yards. Casey Reynolds, Cam Schurr, Noah Short and Parker Poloskey each had one reception. Daily rushed 19 times for 52 yards; Kanye Udoh carried 14 times for 53 yards and Noah Short rushed five times for nine yards.

“Our guys were excited to play. They were focused on the game and desperately wanted to win this game. Emotion didn’t affect the game. It wasn’t like our guys were not ready. We were as ready as we could be. We just didn’t perform. They did. The other team made more plays,” said Army head coach Jeff Monken.

“It’s been a good season, [but] when you lose this game, there’s nothing great, tremendous, outstanding or stupendous about it. It, frankly, makes this season a bit of a disappointment. That’s just the truth of this game and the fact of how bit this rivalry is. To lose this game sours the season, and yeah, I’m just a poor sport. But this is the biggest game of the year,” he added.

“We just didn’t execute. We got outplayed by the team we played,” said Bryson Daily. “We can’t put ourselves in the hole early. Just a lot of bad decisions on my part and I take full responsibility for that.”

“[Navy] played really hard. They had a good plan coming in. We just didn’t hit the plays we needed to. They hit the big plays and we didn’t. I turned the ball over too much. That’s how you lose games. Not executing. Giving the other team the ball and not hitting big plays when you need them. It’s really a bunch of self-inflicted wounds. You can’t win big games playing like that,” he added.

Also at stake was the Commander-in-Chief’s trophy, which has been awarded annually since its inception in 1972. Because both teams beat Air Force earlier in the season, the winner of the Army-Navy game would also win the trophy, which Army held since last year. The trophy now belongs to Navy for its 17th time.

“As excited and proud as we were eight days ago [winning the AAC Championship], we’re as disappointed as we’ve ever been. It’s hard to lose that game. That one hurts a lot, especially doing it when the trophy’s on the line and we’ve got a chance to keep that trophy at West Point. We didn’t do it,” said Monken.

“Along with the Brigade, it’s for everyone who came before us and everyone who graduated,” said Navy running back Brandon Chatman. “Everyone comes back to watch this game and those who can’t make it back are watching on television. It’s for us, for the Brigade, and for everyone who built this.”

Horvath still couldn’t get over losing the trophy and the Army-Navy game last year, especially in light of the tradition of singing their alma mater second if they win the game.

“There is a pain that comes with singing first. We didn’t want to do it again. The Brigade didn’t want to sing first and none of the fans wanted to sing first,” the Navy quarterback said.

Now that the 2024 College Football regular season has concluded, the Navy Midshipmen (9-3 overall, 7-2 conference) will host the Oklahoma Sooners (6-6 overall, 2-6 conference) in the Armed Forces Bowl at Noon ET on Friday Dec. 27 at the Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Army Black Knights (11-2 overall, 8-1 conference) will host Louisiana Tech at the Independence Bowl at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, La. on Saturday Dec. 28 with kickoff slated for 9:15 p.m. ET. Army’s opponent was supposed to be Marshall University, which had to withdraw after losing too many players to the transfer portal following the announcement of a coaching change.