The Army Black Knights defeated the Navy Midshipmen 17-11 Saturday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
The win is Army’s second win in a row against Navy and sixth in the last eight contests.
The Black Knights looked dominant for most of the game, scoring the game’s first points with a four-yard touchdown pass from Bryson Daily to Tyson Riley early in the second quarter.
One of the game’s biggest plays came in the fourth quarter, when Army’s Kalib Fortner stripped the ball away from Navy quarterback Tai Lavatai and ran the ball 44 yards for a touchdown to put the Black Knights ahead 17-3 with less than five minutes remaining in the game.
Trailing by two touchdowns, Navy’s offense suddenly came to life and drove the ball 59 yards, finding the end zone but missing its two-point conversion attempt to pull within eight.
After a failed onside kick, Navy quickly forced Army to punt the ball, giving the Midshipmen one last chance to find a touchdown and a two-point conversion to tie the game.
Navy drove the ball 72 yards, but the Black Knights came up with a crucial stop on the one-foot line, and the Midshipmen turned the ball over on downs with three seconds remaining.
“Why’s it always got to be like that?” Army coach Jeff Monken said afterwards, per ESPN, recalling his team’s double overtime victory last year.
“It is. It’s always like that. We had a 14-point lead, and with one second to go, they’re standing there knocking on the door with a chance to tie the game. Unreal.”
Army took an intentional safety to run the final seconds off the clock and finish the game in a 17-11 win for the Black Knights.
The 124th Army-Navy showdown marked the first time the game was played at Gillette Stadium – home of the New England Patriots.
Despite Saturday’s loss, Navy still leads the all-time series 62-55-7. Prior to Army’s recent run of success, the Midshipmen had won 14 straight games against the Black Knights between 2002 and 2015.
Next year’s edition of the Army-Navy game will be played at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland – home of the Washington Commanders.
