Streak Over, Army Ends Navy's Run with 21-17 Win

Saturday, December 10

Baltimore, MD

3 PM

Army West Point

7-5

Navy

9-4 , 7-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

NAVY

ARMY

Streak Over, Army Ends Navy's Run with 21-17 Win

December 10, 2016 | Football

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BALTIMORE – The Army West Point football team recorded a long-awaited victory over No. 25 Navy 21-17 in the 117th Army-Navy Game presented by USAA on Saturday afternoon.

Army ended a 14-year unbeaten streak in the series in front of 71,600 fans at M&T Bank Stadium and secured its first win in America's Game since earning a 26-17 victory in 2001.

Army finishes the regular season at 7-5, while Navy closes out its regular season with a mark of 9-4.

Army maintained a 7-0 advantage after one quarter, thanks to a 1-yard touchdown run from Andy Davidson. Davidson's rush capped a 14-play, 66-yard drive for the Black Knights that used 7:39 off the game clock.

The sophomore crossed the goal line again with another 1-yard scamper midway through the second quarter and the Black Knights entered the locker room up, 14-0. This marked the first time since 2009 Army blanked the Midshipmen in the first half of play.

Navy responded with 10 unanswered points in the third quarter. The first one was a 1-yard touchdown rush from Zach Abey followed by a 28-yard field goal from Bennett Moehring.

The Midshipmen scored again, this time on a 41-yard rush from Abey, to take their first edge in the game at 17-14 with 12:42 left in the fourth quarter. But Army would ultimately have the last score, as Ahmad Bradshaw's 9-yard run with six minutes left in the game sealed the victory.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Army's victory snapped a 14-game winning streak by Navy, dating back to 2001.
The victory was Army's first in the city of Baltimore since 1944.
It was also the Black Knights' first win at M&T Bank Stadium and brought Army to a 3-3 tie with Navy in Army-Navy games played in Baltimore.
Army moves to 49-54-7 in the all-time Army-Navy Game presented by USAA.
Xavier Moss forced the first fumble of his career in the first quarter, while Rhyan England scooped up his second career fumble recovery.
Moss came down with the third interception of his career later in the third quarter. It was his second pick this year after recording an interception against Notre Dame on Nov. 12.
Davidson ran for his 10th touchdown this season at the 4:23 mark of the first quarter before raising his total to 11 by the end of the game following his fourth multi-score effort of the year.

CAREER MILESTONES

Moss forced the first fumble of his career early in the opening quarter before England collected the fumble for the second recovery of his career.
Davidson punched in his 10th touchdown of the season on a 1-yard carry with 4:23 remaining in the first quarter.
Kell Walker set a career high with a game-high 94 rushing yards.

KEY MOMENT

Army converted on 4th-and-inches late in the fourth quarter when Davidson ran for seven yards to move the ball to the Navy 11-yard line. Bradshaw carried the ball for a nine-yard score two plays later to give Army a 21-17 lead with exactly six minutes on the clock.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Army stalled Navy's opening drive five plays in, as Moss forced a fumble by Navy's Shawn White that was recovered by England at the Black Knights' 34-yard line.
The Cadets responded by scoring on a 14-play, 66-yard drive that was highlighted by a 13-yard rush from Darnell Woolfolk. The sophomore brought the ball to the four-yard line before a 1-yard carry from Davidson capped the drive. Blake Wilson converted the PAT to give the Black Knights' a 7-0 lead with 4:23 left in the first.
Moss came up big again on the very first play of Navy's ensuing drive after he intercepted a deep pass by Abey to give Army the ball at its own 32. The Mids would not go away though as they received the ball back with 26 seconds left in the opening quarter, when Sean Williams intercepted Bradshaw's pass at the Navy 22-yard line.
Midway through the second period, the Black Knights took over at Navy's 46-yard line after a punt before Davidson crossed the goal line for his second 1-yard touchdown run of the afternoon. Davidson kept Army's drive going with a 3-yard carry on 4th-and-2 that moved the ball to the Navy 12. From that point Walker rushed for another first down with an 11-yard carry that brought the ball to the 1-yard line. Davidson's touchdown run finished an 11-play, 46-yard drive. Wilson's PAT gave the Cadets a 14-0 lead.
Later in the period, Navy took over after a fumble from Davidson with 1:38 remaining in the opening half, but the Mids gave the ball right back, as England intercepted Abey for his second pick of the year.
Army ran out the clock with a pair of short rushes to enter the locker room with the 14-0 advantage.
Navy forced a fumble by Bradshaw on Army's second play from scrimmage to start the third quarter and took over the ball at the Army 32-yard line.
The Midshipmen turned their takeaway into seven points, after Abey finished a six-play, 32-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. Moehring made the PAT to pull within 14-7 with a little less than 12 minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Army limited Navy to a 28-yard field goal after a drive that lasted 5:20. Moehring split the uprights to make the score 14-10 still in favor of Army with 3:59 left in the third period.
Jackson Pittman forced a fumble on a carry from Davidson, and Williams recovered it to give the Mids the ball back at their own 37-yard line with 1:19 to play in the third.
Abey then gave Navy its first lead of the contest, with a 41-yard touchdown rush with 12:42 remaining on the clock in the fourth quarter. Moehring's successful PAT handed the Mids a 17-14 advantage.
Davidson helped Army get another fourth-down conversion, with a 7-yard run from the Navy 18-yard line on 4th-and-inches. Bradshaw rushed for a 9-yard score two plays later and Wilson made the PAT to give the Black Knights back the advantage at 21-17 with six minutes to play. A 29-yard connection from Bradshaw to Edgar Poe helped set up the game-winning scoring drive.
Army forced a punt on Navy's ensuing drive and got the ball back at its own 23 with 4:07 remaining on the clock.
The Black Knights picked up two first downs to run out the clock and seal the victory.

UP NEXT

Army completes its 2016 season with a trip to the Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl to face North Texas on Dec. 27 at 12 p.m. ET. The bowl game will be Army's first since 2010 and will be played at Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas, Texas. ESPN will have the game's broadcast.