American Stories – Army/Navy Never Disappoints

PHILADELPHIA– Leave it to Army-Navy to give us the most dramatic of finishes to this college football regular season.

What’s better than a nationally televised game between these two first-class service academies, played in 30 degree temperatures and driving snow before a sellout crowd of 68,625 at Lincoln Financial Field here, coming down to the final play?

This game has always had a bigger-than-life feel to it. There have been so many heroes on both sides who have played in this game over the years, then gone on to protect our freedoms. That is what sets this game apart from other rivalries and makes it the signature attraction on the American Athletic Conference football schedule, regardless of either team’s record.

America loves this game.

But Navy, which dominated this series to the tune of 14 straight wins against the Black Knights from 2002 through 2015, finds itself in a two-year drought against its rival.

When Ahmad Bradshaw scored on a quarterback sneak to give the Black Knights a 14-13 lead, he set the wheels in motion for Army to hold on and win a second consecutive game in what is now a far more competitive series. The Black Knights (9-3) captured their first Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy in 21 years.

Navy had a chance to pull off a miracle in the final moments when Bennett Moehring set up for a 48-yard field goal attempt with three seconds remaining. Moehring made a game attempt – his kick was plenty long enough – but it sailed a hair outside the left upright as the cannons went off, signaling the end of the game.

“Felt good, obviously conditions weren’t great, made good contact with the ball,” said Moehring, who commendably answered every question asked of him in the postgame press conference. “All I was telling myself was to make good contact, and the rest would take care of itself. I made good contact with the ball and the kick felt good. I thought the ball was going to go through the uprights. Unfortunately, it just went the wrong way.

“They say God gives his toughest struggles to his toughest warriors. I feel sorry for the seniors, the teams, the coaches. It’s really tough. When I wake up every morning, I think God gave me the ability to play football. He put me in a situation like this. I should have made the kick.”

The dramatic finish set off a wave of euphoria among the corps of Cadets, who rushed the field to hail  their conquering heroes. The Army players hugged the distraught Mids and then lined up before the playing of the alma maters to congratulate Navy’s sophomore quarterback and rising star Malcom Perry.

On most days, Perry might have been the story of the game. He was nothing less than sensational against Army, rushing for 250 yards on 30 carries and a 68-yard touchdown run and averaging 8.9 yards per carry on a slippery field. “It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It was snow,” Perry said. “It doesn’t really affect the game.”

Perry almost scored another touchdown in the third quarter. He broke loose for a 46-yard run to the Army 11-yard line. He was wide open on an option pass play but Craig Scott overthrew him and the Mids had to settle for a Moehring field goal.

“It’s Navy football,” Perry said. “When we’re close to the end zone, we’ve have to put the ball in the end zone. We didn’t and that hurt us.”

It certainly hurt Perry, who was left doubled over in agony when the game ended and needed assistance from a teammate to leave the field.

Perry spent most of this season as a starting slotback. But his role changed after starting quarterback Zach Abey was banged up against Temple and Perry took over against SMU the following week, exploding for an American Athletic Conference-record 282 yards rushing and four touchdowns during a 43-40 victory over the Mustangs.  But Perry himself was injured in the game and missed the Mids’ 24-17 loss at Notre Dame before returning to the lineup in the team’s final conference game, a 24-14 loss at Houston.

Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo, whose team had lost five of six games at the time, knew it was time to shake things up. He had three productive quarterbacks in Abey, Perry and Garret Lewis. But he didn’t need a crystal ball to see that Perry was his future and he decided to start him over a player who had 1322 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns in Navy’s run-based offense.

“We actually made the decision two weeks ago,” Niumatalolo admitted.

Perry will be the Mids’ starter against Virginia in the Dec. 28 MiIitary Bowl in Annapolis, and likely in the 2018 season as well.

“The kid’s been amazing,” Niumatalolo said. “I think he’s done everything we’ve asked him to do — gave us a chance there at the end. Malcolm got us in position to win that game, and that’s all.”

Perry put together a final drive to get Navy to the Army 23-yard line with less than a minute remaining but consecutive false starts by seniors Evan Martin and Tyler Carmona pushed Navy back to Army’s 31 yard line and took 10 seconds off the clock, leaving the Mids with just 22 seconds on third down. When Army stuffed Perry for no gain, Moehring was prevented from having a 38-yard attempt and was left with what amounted to a mission impossible.

“In a close game, it’s the team that doesn’t make mistakes that wins,” Nlumatalolo said.

This one hurt.

“You just feel for the players,” Niumatalolo admitted. “They’ll regroup because they’re tough, resilient kids. But this one will take some time to get over.”