Army Triumphs at Last, Ending Navy’s 14-Game Streak in Rivalry
BALTIMORE — In sports, it is becoming a good year for ending bad streaks. On Saturday, a little more than a month after the Chicago Cubs broke their 108-year championship drought, Army beat Navy in their annual matchup for the first time since December 2001.
When Army quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw took the final snap of the game to run out the clock on a 21-17 victory, he was quickly swarmed by some of the thousands of jubilant cadets who stormed the field in long gray coats. The mini-curse was over.
In front of a sellout crowd of 71,600 that included President-elect Donald J. Trump, it was Bradshaw who rolled into the end zone for a go-ahead touchdown with six minutes remaining to put Army back ahead after it had squandered a 14-0 halftime lead.
Tradition at the Army-Navy game calls for each team, at the game’s end, to stand in front of its fellow students and sing its alma mater, with the winning team singing second. And so, for the first time in a long time, Army sang second.
Navy still holds a 60-50 edge in the series, which dates to Nov. 29, 1890, and also includes seven ties. And although they were severely short-handed because of injuries to top players, the Midshipmen (9-4) made Army (7-5) earn this victory.
Army got into its own way at times, having trouble holding onto the ball. Its fumbles helped Navy climb back into the game, and when Navy quarterback Zach Abey broke three tackles on an option keeper early in the fourth quarter that turned into a 41-yard touchdown, the Black Knights trailed for the first time.
Suddenly down, 17-14, Army immediately responded with a resolute 12-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that ate up 6 minutes 42 seconds and ended with a 9-yard touchdown run by Bradshaw, who had thrown an interception and lost a fumble earlier in the game.
Army had seemed almost destined to end its losing streak against Navy in this game. Not only had Navy been routed by Temple in the American Athletic Conference championship game a week earlier, 34-10, but this year was the first time since 1941 that Navy had not had more than a week off before playing Army. The Black Knights, in contrast, had had three weeks off.
Moreover, the Midshipmen had lost two of their best offensive players to season-ending foot injuries on the same play against Temple: the senior quarterback Will Worth, who had set a program record with 2,595 yards of total offense, and the senior slotback Toneo Gulley, who dressed in a uniform for Saturday’s game but hobbled around on crutches.
The Temple loss eliminated Navy from consideration for the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 2; instead, Navy will play Louisiana Tech in the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth on Dec. 23. Las Vegas oddsmakers had originally established Navy as an 11 ½-point favorite over Army, but the injuries helped shrink the spread to 5 points as the game approached.
And for the first time in six years, Saturday’s game did not represent the end of Army’s season. The Black Knights had already earned their first bowl invitation since 2010 — to the Heart of Dallas Bowl on Dec. 27.
On Saturday, Army won the coin toss and opted for Navy to take the ball. On Navy’s fifth play from scrimmage, fullback Shawn White squirted through a hole — but fumbled after he was hit by Black Knights safety Xavier Moss. Rhyan England recovered for Army.
The Black Knights then chewed up more than seven and a half minutes with a 14-play, 66-yard drive that concluded with fullback Andy Davidson’s plunge in for a score from the 1-yard line. The only nonrunning play in the drive was a shovel pass that was knocked incomplete.
Army’s next possession ended when Navy’s Sean Williams picked off Bradshaw’s first pass of the drive. But the Black Knights’ defense forced a three-and-out on Navy’s next drive — and Midshipmen punter Alex Barta shanked a 15-yard kick out of bounds.
The Black Knights then kept the ball on the ground for 11 straight plays, with Davidson picking up a first down on a fourth-and-2 inside the Navy 20. One play after the freshman Kell Walker rumbled for 11 yards on a pitchout, Davidson scored again from the 1 to push Army’s lead to 14-0.
The Army defense forced another punt, and the Black Knights accumulated 44 yards on seven straight running plays. Davidson then handed the ball back to Navy by fumbling, but England intercepted a sailing pass by Abey on the next play to kill the drive in a hurry.
Army amassed 14 first downs on 182 yards, all on the ground, in the first half, holding the ball for an overwhelming 22:32. The Black Knights were 6 of 7 on third downs. Navy had only one first down — on the White carry that ended with the fumble.
As for Trump, he waved to the crowd and pumped his fist as he arrived during the first quarter of the game and then watched it from two luxury suites, one linked to Army, the other to Navy. At halftime, he appeared on the CBS television broadcast of the game.
After Trump left the broadcast booth, the second half began, and the momentum swung abruptly when Bradshaw quickly lost a fumble at the Army 32. Abey completed a screen pass to White that picked up 16 yards, then muscled into the end zone on a keeper that cut the deficit to 14-7 less than four minutes into the half.
Navy’s Bennett Moehring kicked a 28-yard field goal with 3:59 left in the third quarter to knock Army’s lead down to 14-10. England appeared to have forced a fumble, but the play was reversed after a replay showed that his foot had been out of bounds as he swatted the ball inbounds.
More drama was to come, and in the end, Army found a way to prevail. And then to sing after Navy went first.
P.C: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/10/sports/ncaafootball/army-navy-ahmad-bradshaw-donald-trump.html?_r=0
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