Baltimore, MD – The Cadets of Amy took a 16-10 lead into the second half, but the Midshipmen of Navy scored on a fourth and goal from the eight with 7:32 left to take the win in the 126 meeting between these two fabled rivals. QB Blake Horvath connected with Navy’s all-time leading receiver, Eli Heidenreich, in the end zone for the win. The Navy defense held the lead by limiting Army to only one yard on their last four possessions. Despite Horvath’s game-leading 107 yards rushing on 34 carries, Navy’s “dynamic duo” of Mount Lebanon, PA, Heidenreich and RB Alec Tecza, righted the ship at game’s end for Navy’s victory.
First two series – 26 plays, 150 yards, two TDs
To open the game, Army deferred and the Midshipmen drove 75 yards in 13 plays to take a 7-0 lead on Horvath’s five yard run 7:16 into the game. Start of a blow-out? As Lee Corso would say, “Not so fast, my friends.” Cadet fans admitted, they did not think their team (6-6) would keep this game close against the 10-2 Midshipmen.
Cadet QB Cale Hellums mirrored Horvath’s performance. He scored on a three-yard TD run to polish off a 75-yard, 13 -play drive five seconds into the second period.
TD for 7-0 Midshipmen lead.
Army defense in control
The Cadets forced the Mids to punt after a three and-out-from the 28. Hellums led the team starting from the 24. They drove all the way to the Navy 8 for a first down. However, the Mids’ D stiffened. The Cadet Dawson Jones kicked a 20-yard FG to take a 10-7 lead. Navy’s next drive finished with Army DL Jack Bousom (a native of Annapolis, MD) recovering Horvath’s fumble on a pass attempt at the Army 27.
With 20 seconds to play in the half, Hellums connected with Brady Anderson for a 26-yard completion. He took out of bounds to stop the clock. Down to three seconds, Jones booted a successful 45-yard FG to give the US Military Academy an unexpected 13-7 lead going into halftime. Next, President Donald J Trump moved across from the Navy side to the Army side for the second half.
As I headed to the men’s room for a “pit stop” on a cold day in the 20s, US Secret Service Agents could be seen with “USSS” vests throughout the M&T Stadium concourse. A friend of Cousin Frank Scarpa, a Guest Game Analyst (GGA), who attended the game with me who Frank spoke to by phone mentioned, at that time, we must’ve been “at the safest place in the world.”
Third quarter not so safe for Midshipmen
After an Army punt, the Mids took their first possession from the 11. Cadet CB Justin Weaver intercepted a Horvath pass at the 32. It looked as if he had extended the Army lead. However, a review confirmed his knee hit the ground before racing into the end zone. The Black Knights of the Hudson threatened still to score with good field position. The Midshipmen defense yielded only two yards. Once again, Jones made good on another field goal. This time from 48 yards. Army led, 16-7, at 9:39 in the third.
Starting from the 25, Horvath put the Midshipmen rolling on offense once again, primarily with his short gains. At the Army eight, Nathan Kirkwood converted a 21-yard FG to put the Mids within six, 16-10.
Turning point of the game
Navy started the fourth period with the football. Another sack by Bousum set the Mids back ten yards. They forced a punt. The Cadets took over from their 24. With a pick-up of one, the next play turned the game around in Navy’s favor. Hellums rolled right. From our perch in section 522 with a lot of other fans, he looked like he had a lot a green in front of him for a big gain and a first down. Instead, he tried to force a pass to his receiver. USNA DB Phillip Hamilton jumped the route and picked it off to give the Midshipmen possession on the 50-yard line. Had Hellums run for big yards, the result of this game may have been much different.
Horvath hand-offs
With 50 yards to go, Army’s defense continued to play tough. With a second and ten at the 40, Horvath finally handed the ball off to RB Alec Tecza. He got down to the Army 31. Next play, Horvath picked up two for the first. Tecza followed with a burst for 24 yards for another first at the Army 5. “Where has that been all game?” wondered GGA Phil Colicchio (Rutgers) and myself. Tecza has been a key part of this Navy offense the last few years. He’d get only nine carries of the day for 50 yards. He definitely provides the Mids with a different rushing wrinkle on offense.
More heroics from Tecza. On second-and-goal at the one, Horvath fumble the ball on the exchange from center. An Army defender tried to get it in his grasp; Tecza knocked it away. Heidenreich recovered for Navy on the eight. With fourth and goal, Horvath connected with his favorite target at the back of the end zone to knot the score at 16. With 6:32 left, Kirkwood converted to give the Midshipmen their first lead of the day.
Not over yet
With a 10-yard penalty against Army among four plays, the Cadets punted back to Navy with 3:52 left and two time-outs remaining. After Army used its final time-out with 2:35 and the two-minute time-out still on the board, Horvath took the ball up the middle. He fumbled the ball into the air with Army looking to recover. However, a replay indicated the he was down by contact when he captured the ball again. The Midshipmen needed a first now with a fourth and one at Army’s 41. Tecza picked up the necessary two. After the mandatory time-out with 1:54 left, Navy went into the victory formation until time expired. Great,tough, hard-fought game until the end. There was even a little extracurricular activity before college football’s two greatest rivals settled in for the traditional singing of the alma maters together. Navy sang second. The winners always do!
Army’s song.
Great weekend in Baltimore area for ArmyNavy
Another GGA attended this game with collegefootballfan.com this week, Dave Hickman. He, a veteran the 82nd Airbourne, attended with us for his first ever ArmyNavy game. Met others at M&T from the same command and enjoyred the game despite the loss. Much better than when we attended his alma mater, Illinois, get shellacked by Indiana up in Bloomington earlier this year. Also, his wife Kalani, always wanted to attend this game. As the daughter of a US Marine who severed in Viet Nam, ArmyNavy was always on her “bucket list.” Her father and Dave place a wager on this game every year.
Like all of us, she had a great time this weekend. She and Dave joined us for lunch last Friday with our son, Navy Chief Petty Officer Eric, stationed in Arlington, VA. He appropriately selected the perfect Italian restaurant to start a college football weekend, “Corso’s.” No relation that we know of, but what the heck? Worked for us.
Our Friday night also include a reservation with Frank and Phil at Guiness Open Gate Brewery in Baltimore. Together, we all stayed at a nice 3-BR VRBO property in Glen Burnie, MD owned by Brad Thrall and his wife. Great location convenient to Guiness, M&T Stadium, Camden Yards, Fort McHenry, or even Annapolis. Very comfortable and quiet. Easy parking. All of us and my wife, St. Laurie, recommend it. Check out the information by clicking here if ever interested in a party of 2-6 people in the Baltimore area.
One Regret on ArmyNavy 2025
I had hoped to catch up with some of my USNA friends from the class of ’78. However, from our previous experience at this game played in Baltimore in 2016, we knew what a fiasco it was to get through security at M&T when then President-elect Trump attended. Not only did he plan to attend again, and great to see, but the Naval Academy could not provide enough parking spaces to all donors and season ticket holders. Instead, they provided us with info regarding off-site parking garages. From our previous experience, we had limited time and since flying in without food and party accessories, not enough time to plan to meet anyone for a tailgate. So, we improvised.
On our way from the parking garage, our party of six stopped for lunch at Peter’s Pour House on Grant Street. A great neighborhood bar with good food and drink. Fans from both teams dined there. From there, we headed to Pickles Pub on Washington Blvd right next to Camden Yards. Visited there in the past before Orioles games. We lucked out heading into M&T. Not sure exactly where to go, we found an entrance on our walk to the stadium in an alley way on the north side.
Better tailgate planned for 2026
Short line through security. Took us all of ten minutes. Early during the game, we saw one email from one Navy friend, Alden “the Rock” Williams, who was still waiting to get in. After the game that evening at the Ferndale Tavern in Glen Burnie, we met another Navy fan who said it took her two hours to get into the game. Boy, did we luck out! Our pre-game plan out worked with a little luck to get us in for the pre-game festivities. However, we never had time to meet up with USNA friends at a lower level at the further end of M&T. Next year in The Meadowlands makes it much simpler to tailgate together!
Both teams and Collegefootballfan.com move on to post-season
Army will play Connecticut (9-3) in the Wasabi Fenway Park Bowl on December 27 in Boston. Navy heads to the AutoZone Liberty Bowl in Memphis on January 2. They’ll clash with former American Athletic foe, Cincinnati (7-5). Collegefootballfan.com regretfully cannot attend that one based on our upcoming post-season travel plans.
This weekend, we’ll take our first Bye week of 2025 for the opportunity to watch all four CFP games on TV Friday night and Saturday. And of course, Christmas is the following Thursday. It arrives very quickly after we start our season going to games every weekend starting in August. Glad we made it! More time to celebrate!
Big post-season for CFF.com
After our bye week, we stay local for our next game at the Music City Bowl. Illinois (8-4) will tussle with Tennessee (8-4) at Nissan Stadium on December 30. Illini fans are happy about the visit according to our friend and Illini alum friend, Dave Hickman. He will attend with us. According to reports on the Internet, Volunteer fans aren’t thrilled. Heck, the Vols didn’t beat a team with a winning record this season including Vanderbilt. And what the problem? They have the ultimate place to party place right across the bridge on Broadway right before New Year’s Eve. They want to go someplace warm? Have the SEC contract with the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl!
Collegefootballfan.com Games # 737-740
Game 737: Thursday 12 noon EST January 1 Capital One Orange Bowl: No. 4 Texas Tech (12-1) vs. Oregon-James Madison winner
Game 738: Monday 6:30 PM CT January 5 Football Championship Subdivision championship at First Bank Stadium in Nashville. Winner of Illinois State vs. Villanova against winner of Montana vs. Montana State. Both games to be played on December 20. MSU opened our season at Oregon in a 59-13 drubbing. And surprise, surprise – no North Dakota State!
Game 739: Friday 7:30 EST January 9 Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl – Winner of CFP Orange Bowl vs. winner of CFP Rose Bowl
Game 740: Monday January 19 winners of Peach Bowl and Fiesta Bowl play for CFP championship at Hard Rock Stadium at Miami Lakes, Florida. A post-season can’t get any better that this for a fan who insists on being there!
Last-minute Christmas gift: read about our college football history!!
Click on the title about this life-long adventure: Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales: The Good, the Fun, and the Ugly on Amazon.com. Among 735 college games attended to date, we’ve seen all 136 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams play in person at least once. This tells our story! Read the reviews on the book page and get your copy today. If you’re trying to follow NILs and transfer portals, read what we predicted in 2023 and more. You’ll see we know what we’re talking about.
In addition, we offered solutions to issues occurring that we anticipated when we wrote this book. Based on our game story above, this fun, unique life-long Journey continues. Catch up on the last 45 years, and then please submit a review. We hope you will get a “kick” out of our great adventure over the years! Who else can say that? Continue to come back and follow our current and future adventures. Bowls and play-off games lie ahead for the rest of this season. Thanks for checking this out!
Written, posted, edited and photographed (unless otherwise mentioned) by Stephen Koreivo, Author of Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales: The Good, the Fun and the Ugly and a member of Football Writers Association of America (FWAA).