Being Air Force, I have no dog in this fight, but it was a great game nevertheless.
Here are the highlights by Jessica Clark, U.S. Naval Academy Public Affairs
The U.S. Naval Academy Midshipmen beat West Point’s Black Knights, 34-7, at the 114th Army-Navy football game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia Dec. 14.
The Navy football team’s win provided its twelfth-straight victory against the Army squad in the annual contest and gained Navy the Commander-in-Chief trophy for the second-straight year.
Navy has won the trophy nine times in the last 11 years. The trophy is awarded to the service academy with the most victories in games between the three service academies: Navy, Army and Air Force.
Navy’s 12-year winning streak is the longest in the history of the rivalry between Navy and Army, which began in 1890. They lead the series 58-49-7.
Navy was the first on the scoreboard with a field goal in the first quarter, bringing the score to 3-0.
With 8:15 left in the second quarter, Navy’s Noah Copeland made a 39-yard run for the first touchdown of the game, bringing the score to 10-0. This was a career-long run for Copeland.
Still in the 2nd quarter, Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds, of Antioch, Tenn., ran 47 yards for another touchdown against Army. The extra point left the game at 17-0 at halftime.
U.S. Naval Academy Midshipman quarterback and most valuable player Keenan Reynolds, a sophomore from Antioch, Tenn., runs the ball for the Navy’s second touchdown while U.S. Military Academy Black Knight linebacker and senior Justin Trimble, an Ashburn, Va., native, pursues during the 114th Army-Navy Game at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa., Dec. 14, 2013.(Department of Defense photo by Marvin Lynchard)
In the 3rd quarter, West Point cadet Angel Santiago put Army on the scoreboard with a touchdown plus the extra point, leaving the score at 17-7. Navy quickly answered back with a 34-yard field goal, extending its lead to 20-7 with just over a minute left in the quarter.
Early in the 4th quarter, Navy’s Reynolds made his 28th rushing touchdown this season, breaking the NCAA single-season record for most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback, formerly shared by Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein and former midshipman quarterback Ricky Dobbs.
With the score at 28-7 after the two-point conversion, and wintry weather getting increasingly worse, Navy finished with Reynolds’ third rushing touchdown and 29th of the season with only 46 seconds left in the game.
The Navy victory ups their season’s record to 8-4 while Army’s record drops to 3-9. The midshipmen will move on to face Middle Tennessee in the Armed Forces Bowl Dec. 30 in Fort Worth, Texas.
For more news from U.S. Naval Academy, visit www.navy.mil/local/usna/.
Lead Image: U.S. Naval Academy Midshipman quarterback, Keenan Reynolds, secures the ball for the Navy’s second touchdown during the 114th Army-Navy Game at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa., Dec. 14, 2013. (Department of Defense photo by Marvin Lynchard)
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.