Game 554: Army edges Navy 14-13 to take home Commander-in-Chief Trophy
Philadelphia – As time expired, Navy’s Bennet Moehring field goal attempt of 48 yards missed to the left in Game 554 played during a snow storm with swirling winds at Lincoln Financial Field to give the Cadets of West Point (9-3) their second consecutive win over arch-rival Navy after 14 straight losses, 14-13. Army took the lead with 5:10 left on QB Ahmad Bradshaw’s QB sneak and Blake Wilson’s PAT.
Moehring’s attempt for the win goes long enough but to the left to preserve the Army victory.
Navy QB Malcolm Perry ran for 250 yards and a 68-yard TD dash to give Navy a 10-7 lead at the half. Both defenses tightened up in the second half. Both teams ran their triple option throughout game 554. Army completed its only pass for 20 yards. Navy completed one of its only two for two yards. On the ground the Mids out-gained the Cadets 294 to 221. On the final Navy drive, Perry dropped a snap of fourth down at the Army 37, but he picked it up to get the first down. Two procedure penalties set Navy back to the 31 making the game-winning attempt longer. Army scored first in Q1 on Darnell Woolfolk’s three-yard run. Navy cut the lead 7-3 with Moehring’s 28-yard FG.
Navy QB Malcolm Perry picks up a first down in the game’s final drive.
Spoils and Bowl games
Army won its 51st game of this greatest of all rivalries in college football against 60 wins for Navy and seven ties. For West Point, it gave them their first outright Commander-in-Chief Trophy since 1996 when they last defeated Navy and Air Force. The Cadets head next to Fort Worth, Texas to meet San Diego State (10-2) in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl on December 23. Navy (6-6, 4-4) will meet Virginia (6-6,3-5) in Annapolis in the Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman. Collegefootballfan.com will be there for our second of three bowl games in three days. We will sandwich it between the New Era Pinstripe Bowl (Iowa vs. Boston College) and The Belk Bowl (Wake Forest vs. Texas A&M).
However, before we go bowling over the holidays, we have Championship weekend coming up this Friday and Saturday. On Friday evening, we will be in Salem, Virginia for the D-3 National Championship between Mount Union and defending D-3 champs Mary Hardin-Baylor. Both teams weigh in at 15-0! On Saturday right up Interstate 81, we will attend the FCS semi-final games when the South Dakota State Jack Rabbits (11-2) visit No. 1 James Madison Dukes (13-0), also defending national champs. The winner will head to Frisco, Texas for the title game against the winner of North Dakota State and Sam Houston State. Check back with us as we’ll still be attending games as college football in 2017 heads into exciting championship action.
Cadets celebrate victory with their team.
Points After Tailgating
This past weekend, we ended the regular season on a high note for tailgating though our Game 554 was played in cold, snowy weather. Thanks to Dan Donnelly of Dan from the tailgate, who treks out from California each year to attend this classic game, he coordinates a big get-together with friends from his alma mater, Frostburg State, primarily Ray Carlucci, to have a great grand finale for tailgating. This year’s menu had everything: Taylor ham, egg and cheese sandwiches; Sausage and peppers; Long Island keilbasa, Morristown cheese steaks, South Jersey cheese steaks, Cousin Frank’s burnt end pork rounds, Pulled pork, Dino’s famous pot luck/road kill chili, Brian Donnelly’s Old Bay spice wings, Bubba burgers, Cannoli’s from Cataldo’s Bakery in Parsippany, NJ, Pop LeBlanc’s and friends’ lobsters direct from Boston, and more! Bloody Mary’s, Fireball/Rumchata, Evan Williams Honey Bourbon, and all kinds of beers were overflowing in Parking Lot P near Lincoln Financial (btw, they need more and cleaner port-o-potties in that lot). A slight last-minute change in the meeting area delayed our start time a little later than planned, but we overcame and improvised starting around 9:30 am. After the game, the grills got started and steak sandwiches tasted great before heading out around 8:30 pm as most of us we let traffic clear. Great job by everyone organizing and participating for a great time at Game 554 with a lot of great and fun-loving people!
Post-game grilling!