The Navy Midshipmen beat the Army Black Knights 31-17 in the 111th Army Navy game today in Philadelphia. It was Navy’s 9th straight win over Army, which is the most by either team in the historic series.
Navy QB Ricky Dobbs completed only six passes, but two were for TDs as he got Navy off to a hot start. After a FG to open the scoring, Dobbs hit John Howell for a big 77 yard touchdown. Dobbs would strike again in the beginning of the second quarter finding Brandon Turner for a 32 yard TD which put the Midshipmen up 17-0
It looked like the blowout was, but Army made a game of it before the half. The Army opportunity came from a Navy mistake as RB Alexander Teich fumbled the ball deep in Navy territory. It gave the Black Knights a short field to work with and it took them six plays to go 23 yards for their first TD in four years against Navy to cut the lead to 17-7.
Just a few plays later, Navy would fumble once again to give Army a short field. Army marched straight down the field to the goal line when disaster struck. Army QB Trent Steelman went for the sneak, but the ball was knocked out into the hands of Navy’s Wyatt Middleton, who returned it 98 yards for the longest return TD in Navy history. It was a 14 point swing and a killing blow to Army, who in the span of just a few seconds looked like they would go into halftime down just three and set to get the kickoff… to suddenly down 24-7 and for intents and purposes out of the game.
Navy added 10 more points in the second, but Army did give the cadets a reason to cheer when Steelman found Malcom Brown for a 44 yard TD. In the end though, the glory all goes to the Navy Midshipmen who now own ultimate bragging rights over their biggest rival with their ninth straight win. That means that this Navy senior class never lost to Army. That’s about as good a college career than a Navy man could ever ask for.