It took Army and Navy 112 meetings to stage a game in the Washington area. It was worth the wait.
Repelling a determined effort by Army to end the longest losing streak in series history, Navy won 27-21 on a pair of fourth-quarter field goals by star-crossed senior Jon Teague to extend its string of victories to 10 in the storied service academy rivalry.
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Before 80,789 at FedEx Field on Saturday, most of the other heroes for Navy, appropriately enough, were seniors. In their final college game, quarterback Kriss Proctor (32 carries, 97 yards, two touchdowns) and fullback Alexander Teich (18 carries, 93 yards, touchdown) led the offense, while end Jabaree Tuani (fumble recovery, forced fumble) propelled the defense.
“Whether we’re in a bowl game, whether we’re not in a bowl game, to beat Army for a decade is unheard of,” Proctor said.
Army (3-9) had a chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter, driving from its own 23 to the Navy 24. But Midshipmen linebacker Matt Warrick sacked Army quarterback Trent Steelman on second down, then made the key fourth-down stop, again on Steelman, lassoing him for a loss of a yard.
It was a satisfying end of a trying year for Navy (5-7), which saw its eight-year bowl streak end as it lost five games by a combined 11 points. It also was a feel-good conclusion for Teague, the culprit in many of those defeats as he missed four extra points and five goals. But his first placement of the afternoon, an extra point that slammed into the right upright but caromed good, was a good omen. His clutch field goals came from 23 and 44 yards.
Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo was brought to tears when asked about Teague’s struggles.
“Some of the things were said about that kid — it’s just college football,” Niumatalolo said. “It couldn’t have ended better for a guy like Jon who endured so much criticism.”
Navy and Army were ranked first and third in the nation in fewest penalties allowed, respectively. Ironically, it was a penalty that sealed the fate of the Black Knights, who jumped offside on a fourth-and-inches play with 2:04 left. Navy deked Army on the play, forcing the penalty by putting a slotback in motion.
“We played with them a little bit,” Proctor said. “We got that one.”
Navy took a 14-0 lead, converting a pair of Army fumbles into scores. Tuani recovered the first fumble and forced the other, which was recovered by linebacker Brye French.
After Navy senior slotback Aaron Santiago ran wide to convert on third down, Proctor scored on a 4-yard option carry for a 7-0 lead. After French’s recovery of a fumble by Jared Hassin, Proctor struck immediately with a 32-yard sprint, setting up a 10-yard touchdown run by Teich, who dived into the end zone.
Army was averaging 351 yards rushing entering the game and showed why on its final two possessions of the first half, scoring on drives of 67 and 63 yards. Steelman capped the first drive with a 34-yard touchdown run, straight at the corner of the end zone occupied by the cadets, to cut Navy’s lead in half.
After forcing a three-and-out, the Black Knights got the ball back and slotback Malcolm Brown started and finished the drive with carries of 19 and 5 yards as Army tied it 14-14 before the end of the half.
The teams continued their standoff in the third quarter. Fueled by a 47-yard return of the second-half kickoff by Teich — his first kickoff return this season — Navy went up 21-14 on a 2-yard dive by Proctor.
But Army retaliated with another efficient drive — 74 yards on six plays. After fullback Larry Dixon bolted for 31 yards, Steelman followed with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Brown.
