FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — For the second straight season the Army-Navy game came down to a play on the goal line.
For the second straight season, that play went in favor of Army West Point.
Quarterback Tai Lavatai was stopped inches from the goal line on fourth down with time running out as Army escaped with a 17-11 victory over Navy before a sellout crowd of 65,878 at Gillette Stadium.
“Your heart breaks for your team, especially the seniors. I really wanted this for them more than anything,” Navy head coach Brian Newberry said. “Those guys have been through a lot over the last four years. It was an extremely resilient group and I’m proud of the way they stayed the course and led. Those guys deserved to win this game.”
With Navy trailing by two touchdowns with just under five minutes remaining, Lavatai led a furious comeback that almost succeeded. The Midshipmen scored their first touchdown of the game with 2:47 to go, then came oh so close to adding another just before time expired.
Down 17-9, Navy took over at its own 36-yard line with 1:39 to go. Lavatai, who replaced starter Xavier Arline in the second quarter, completed a 28-yard pass to Eli Heidenreich to move the ball into Army territory. A series of completions set Navy up at Army’s 6.
On third down, Lavatai tossed a swing pass to fullback Alec Tecza for a 4-yard gain. With the clock at 15 seconds and ticking and Navy out of time outs, Lavatai tried to score from 2 yards out on a keeper, but was stopped short of the goal line by Army linebacker Kalib Fortner.
Replay review upheld the ruling on the field and Army quarterback Bryson Daily took a safety on the ensuing play to end the game.
Naturally, there were questions after the game about whether a quarterback sneak was the right play to call from the 2-yard line. Newberry admitted things might have been different had the clock not been ticking down toward zero.
“If you had time you would like to call something different. It was maybe a little far out to run the quarterback sneak there,” Newberry said. “You’re scrambling, the clock’s running. If you had more time on the clock, you can get a play in and get in formation and get everything communicated.
“With the personnel grouping we had on the field and getting everyone lined up quickly, that was probably the best call we could have made in that situation. It’s tough when you’re in a pressure, hurry situation.”
Lavatai came off the bench to complete 16 of 26 passes for 179 yards to lead Navy. He also ran for 74 yards on 19 carries for the Mids, who once again hurt themselves with multiple penalties.
Army meanwhile, built its lead with its updated offense. Daily led the way with his legs as Army used its new style of option offense to dominate possession, 33:31 to 26:29. Daily rushed for 84 yards on 27 carries and completed 7 of 14 passes for 54 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Kanye Udoh contributed 88 rushing yards for the Black Knights (6-6), who have now won six of the past eight meetings with the Midshipmen (5-7).
An inability to move the ball and score points in service academy games was a major reason why coach Jeff Monken scrapped the “flexbone” triple-option offense.
Monken said he was tired of “banging my head against the wall” since Air Force and Navy defend the option so well. He figured if the Black Knights did something different, it would give them an advantage. He hired Drew Thatcher and Matt Drinkall as co-offensive coordinators and they installed an attack featuring shotgun formation and zone blocking schemes.
Monken’s gamble paid dividends as Army was able to sustain and finish drives against both Air Force and Navy this season. The Black Knights captured the coveted Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy as a result.
The Black Knights were the better team offensively for most of Saturday’s game before the Midshipmen came to life in the fourth quarter behind Lavatai’s arm.
Navy finished with 309 total yards and 131 of that came on the last two possessions of the game. Up until then, the Mids struggled to move the ball. A mistake-filled first half for Navy, ended with the Mids out-gained 153 yards to 81.
Still, the Midshipmen had a great opportunity to strike first, driving to Army’s 24-yard line. Offensive coordinator Grant Chesnut called for a fake swing pass on first down and it turned into a disaster. Instead of throwing to the wide-open slotback, Arline carried through with the fake then basically threw a jump ball. Army free safety Max DiDomenico outleaped Navy wide receiver Cody Howard for the ball then returned the interception 30 yards.
Army took over at the Navy 35-yard line and proceeded to march 65 yards in 12 plays, while taking more than seven minutes off the clock. Daily converted on fourth-and-2 from the 18-yard line and moments later it was first-and-goal from the 4. Army went with a tight formation with the exception of H-back Tyson Riley, who lined up wide.
Navy defenders did not notice Riley in a wide receiver role until it was too late. Outside linebacker Eavan Gibbons was frantically pointing out that Riley was wide-open, but the defender who was apparently supposed to account for the H-back reacted too late.
Daily delivered a strike that eluded the diving defender and Riley waltzed into the end zone with a 4-yard score. Kicker Quinn Maretzki made the extra point to give Army a 7-0 lead at the 14:19 mark of the second quarter.
Another major turning point came late in the first half after Lavatai took over at quarterback and sparked an impressive drive. The Midshipmen found something with Lavatai following the fullback up the middle, then using his size and power to gain additional yards after contact. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound senior rushed for 32 yards on five carries as the Mids moved from their own 18-yard line to the 37-yard line of the Black Knights.
Facing fourth-and-2 just out of field goal range, Navy coach Brian Newberry elected to go for it. Lavatai got the call and appeared to reach the ball past the line to gain. However, officials ruled him down with the ball short.
Newberry said the coaching staff planned to use Lavatai in short-yardage situations. The senior, who missed the previous four games with an injury, was inserted in the second quarter because of the circumstances and the type of play-calling Chesnut was planning.
“There were some things we thought we had in the run game with the quarterback follow stuff. Tai is a bigger body and he’s a better option at running between the tackles,” Newberry said. “We also felt like toward the end of the second quarter we would have to start throwing the ball and felt Tai gave us the best chance to be successful doing that.”
Navy’s failure to pick up a first down on that possession not only spoiled a good scoring opportunity, but it gave Army a chance to steal points to close out the half. Daily gained 13 yards on first down and a 9-yard completion to wide receiver Tobi Olawole led to another, which was enough to put Maretzki in field goal range.
Maretzki drilled a 47-yarder straight through the uprights and that gave Army a 10-0 lead at intermission. It was the third field goal of 45 yards or longer this season for Maretzki, who botted the game-winner against Navy last season.
Navy dodged a major bullet in the third quarter after punt returner Amin Hassan called for a fair catch then failed to field the ball. The ball bounced within an inch of his foot and into the hands of the Army gunner. One replay angle appeared to show the ball hitting Hassan’s cleat, but officials ruled the call on the field stood and Navy took possession at the 11-yard line.
Lavatai proceeded to lead another promising drive, until a false start penalty halted the momentum and Navy settled for a field goal attempt. Sophomore kicker Nathan Kirkwood split the uprights on a 37-yarder and the Army lead was reduced to 10-3 with 12:45 remaining in the game.
Navy moved into Army territory again two possessions later thanks to a 20-yard completion from Lavatai to slotback Eli Heidenreich. The Mids faced third-and-3 from the 43-yard line when yet another false start penalty changed everything.
Left guard Ben Purvis was flagged for the infraction for the second time in the game and that turned it from a running down into a passing down. Lavatai dropped back to pass immediately had to elude Fortner, who was unblocked coming off the edge. The linebacker alertly swiped at the football and knocked it out of Lavatai’s hand. He collected the loose ball on one bounce and raced 44 yards into the end zone to provide what proved to be the clinching points.
“I’ve got to take care of the ball. I tried to step up in the pocket, but he got a lucky hand on it,” Lavatai said.
Lavatai, though, gave Navy life. He completed three passes to quickly drive Navy 59 yards in seven plays for its lone touchdown of the game. Lavatai found Jayden Umbarger open over the middle and the Spalding product did the rest to complete a 14-yard scoring strike, which made the score 17-9 after the Mids failed on a two-point conversion attempt.
Newberry went for two at that point because he was playing to win, not to tie. He just wishes Navy had gotten the chance to go for two a second time.
“I thought our kids fought their tails off in the second half, and at the end of the day had a chance to possibly tie it there at the end,” Newberry said. “It’s a tough situation. You don’t have any timeouts, the clock’s running, you have a certain personnel grouping on the field and don’t have time to run another one on. I heard someone ask about doing something more creative. It’s a lot easier said than done in that situation.”