Despite the depression everyone associated with Army football shuffled through after the 126th Army-Navy Game, Jack Bousum still had one reason to smile.
He’d been like his teammates — solemn, frustrated and disappointed to have surrendered the lead they held since the second quarter to their bitter nemesis, leading to a 17-16 defeat. But when he thought of the younger version of himself, growing up just a few minutes’ drive from the Naval Academy with plenty of blue-and-gold clothes to boot, Bousum cracked a grin.
“I’d probably tell [little me] to maybe take those Navy hats off,” Bousum joked. “Maybe start eating more.”
He knew he was essentially the enemy for his hometown friends and neighbors. He “enjoyed it.”
Navy actually beat Army in offering the local kid, a sturdy asset to a dominant St. Mary’s program and an Al Laramore candidate for the best lineman in Anne Arundel County as a senior. The path to the Naval Academy seemed as forewritten as it was for scores of Saints before and behind him, including seven standing on the Mids’ sideline Saturday.
But, then-Army recruiting coordinator Matt Drinkall told him they needed him. After battling through years of proving himself on the scout team and a catastrophic injury, Bousum finally proved his recruiter’s premonition true.
With four tackles and 1.5 sacks, the 6-foot-4, 268-pound lineman haunted Navy quarterback Blake Horvath at the worst moments for the Mids star on M&T Bank Stadium’s grass.
Just after Army booted a go-ahead field goal early in the second quarter, Navy looked to respond quickly. Instead, Bousum and teammate Eric Ford clobbered Horvath for a sack.
Horvath recovered, ringing a record-breaking pass toward slotback Eli Heidenreich, sparking life into the Mids offense and marching it to the Black Knights’ 27-yard line.
On second down, Horvath wheeled back, looking to spot his playmaker again. Instead, he lost his grip. He turned back toward the open patch to recover his mistake for, at worst, a loss of five yards or so. That might’ve been the case, had Bousum not already beaten his man and tracked what happened first.
When Bousum crashed inches ahead of the quarterback and curled around the football until the whistle blew, he screamed.
“He’s just a guy who has just grown physically, matured as a player and improved his fundamentals,” Army coach Jeff Monken said.
His scoop led directly toward another Army field goal to cap the first half. But he wanted more.
Bousum mostly spent the third quarter blocking, rendering Horvath’s options more useless to him. He hadn’t bothered the quarterback as much as he’d liked.
For a while.
Whoever’s job it was to block Bousum, it didn’t matter. Bousum was a silver-and-snow rocket knocking slotback Brandon Chatman over before bowling Horvath to the grass. What seemed like a must-need scoring drive for the Midshipman offense devolved quickly once Navy shuffled back to the 26-yard line on 2nd-and-20.
“I thought he played a really good football game tonight. I’m proud of him,” Monken said. “I’m glad he is going to come back.”
Bousum never needed much from doctors or his athletic training staff in high school. He played four healthy years on Bestgate Road, earning Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference honors as well as Capital Gazette All-County spots. He shipped off to the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School in 2022 and West Point in 2023 for his plebe season. Like most freshmen, he operated on the scout team, awaiting his turn.
He’d wait longer than he’d hoped when a summer knee injury snapped a piece of bone loose. The surgery and recovery not only benched him from his sophomore campaign, where he’d potentially earn playing time from his impressed coaches. Army sent him back to Annapolis.
While Bousum underwent treatment, Navy thumped the Black Knights, 31-13, in Landover. Missing it motivated him to return by the spring and earn a starting role on the defensive line by Army’s second game against Kansas State on Sept. 6.
Before Saturday, he amassed 24 tackles in 10 games alongside 6.5 tackles for loss, three sacks and a forced fumble. He seemed to thrive against other service academies, posting a season-high five tackles at Air Force. On Dec. 2, he was named third team All-American Conference.
There isn’t a scrap of him in his body that regrets picking West Point, even as the team that laid at the end of his other path celebrated next door. He liked the man Army molded him into. He liked the values of leadership he felt like he’d gained. He’d never been so happy as he did reaching this day at last, standing in uniform alongside his teammates.
“It’s the best feeling in the world,” Bousum said, “just being able to get back out there with my teammates – my brothers.”
Have a sports tip? Contact Katherine Fominykh at kfominykh@baltsun.com or DM @capgazsports on Instagram.