PHILADELPHIA — History was made Saturday as the Army-Navy game went to overtime for the first time in the 123-year history of the series. And one was not enough.
In the second overtime, Navy fullback Anton Hall Jr. fumbled while trying to dive into the end zone. Austin Hill forced the fumble and fellow defensive lineman Nate Smith recovered it at the 1-yard line, thwarting the Midshipmen’s attempt to take the lead. That meant the Black Knights only needed to kick a field goal to win the game and kicker Quinn Maretzki came through.
Maretzki drilled a 39-yard field goal to give Army a thrilling 20-17 double-overtime victory over Navy before a sellout crowd of 69,117 at Lincoln Financial Field.
“We’re feeling like we’re in pretty good shape in the second overtime. We’re down there in scoring position. Obviously, that turnover was huge because we were about to get seven,” Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo said.
Maretzki made a 37-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter to force the extra session.
After being held to 125 total yards through four quarters, Army’s offense came through to start overtime with fullback Markel Johnson breaking through a big hole up the middle and scoring on a 25-yard run.
The Midshipmen, who did not complete a single pass in regulation, answered in one play. Quarterback Xavier Arline faked to the fullback and found slotback Maquel Haywood wide-open downfield for a 25-yard touchdown pass that tied the score at 17.
Navy got the ball first in the second overtime and put together a nice drive. Hall rumbled for 11 yards to set up first-and-goal from the 4. However, on third-and-goal from the 3-yard line, Hall failed to secure the football at the worst possible moment. While lunging to get across the goal line, Hall had the ball jarred loose by the helmet of Hill and Richardson wound up with the football after a massive pileup was sorted out.
“We had a chance to win and didn’t get it done. We got the ball down on the goal line and we’re feeling good that we’re driving the ball to score, and obviously that one play hurt us,” Niumatalolo said. “We were in the driver’s seat and the game slipped out of our hands.”
It was a devastating turn of events for Hall, who had scored Navy’s lone touchdown in regulation on a spectacular 77-yard run. The 5-foot-8 sophomore lost the starting job early in the season because of fumbling issues, but had regained the coaching staff’s confidence.
“I always speak the truth to our guys and you’ve got to take care of the ball,” Niumatalolo said. “Part of loving people is that you have to hold them accountable. We have to take care of the rock. That’s our No. 1 thing.”
With the dramatic win, Army (6-6) evened its record and earned its fifth victory in the last seven meetings with Navy (4-8). It was a heartbreaking loss for the Midshipmen, who will now wait to see if a fourth losing record in the span of five seasons will lead to coaching changes.
It was a typical defensive struggle between the service academies with Navy moving the ball better and totaling 284 total yards and Army finishing with 153. The Midshipmen amassed 259 rushing yards, while the Black Knights only managed 125.
Niumatalolo studied the final statistics, all of which favored Navy, and just shook his head.
“This is why it goes to show you that none of the stats matter. We outdid them in everything but the final score,” he said. “I still feel like we’re the better team, but that doesn’t matter if you don’t have more points.”
When all was said and done, after emerging from a somber locker room and leaving behind players that were in tears, Niumatalolo bemoaned a blocked punt that Army turned into a touchdown and the fumble on the goal line.
“There are a lot of plays in the game that could have changed the outcome, but obviously the blocked punt and the fumble at the end are two plays that changed the whole game,” he said.
After a scoreless first quarter, Bijan Nichols hit a 44-yard field goal that gave the Midshipmen a 3-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Army proceeded to win the field position battle thereafter and Navy was backed up in its own territory for the rest of the first half. However, it was mental mistakes that wound up undoing the Midshipmen, who were called for three straight presnap penalties on a possession late in the second quarter.
Riley Riethman wound up punting from deep in his own territory and poor protection combined with a slow get-off produced disaster. Noah Short stormed into the backfield to block the punt and teammate Jabril Williams recovered the ball in the end zone.
Just like that, Army took a 7-3 lead into the locker room despite gaining only 33 yards in the first half.
There was a key play on Navy’s final possession of the first half. Arline broke loose for a 28-yard gain after heading out the backdoor on a keeper. Arline was racing along the sideline in Army territory when he was tripped as a result of a leg whip by safety Marquel Broughton that wasn’t called.
Arline came up limping, but shook off the pain and remained in the game — although he appeared a bit gimpy the rest of the way.
Navy jumped back ahead in the third quarter, taking over at its own 23-yard line and that is when lightning struck. Hall got a great block from guard Ahmad Bradley and raced untouched to the end zone for a 77-yard touchdown. It was a well-executed trap play and Bradley pulled and delivered a crushing kick out block.
That explosive play enabled Navy to retake the lead, 10-7, with 4:09 to go in the third quarter. It was the longest rushing play in Army-Navy game history.
After a couple failed efforts to tie or take the lead, Army got one final chance with 5:26 to go in the game.
The Black Knights did what they needed to do, picking up two first downs — one as a result of a pass interference penalty — and moving into field goal position. Navy inside linebacker Will Harbour was flagged for face-guarding Army slotback Ay’Jaun Marshall and that 15-yard infraction brought the ball to the Navy 28-yard line.
Army gained 8 yards on three plays and that was enough to get Maretzki into range and he calmly nailed a 37-yard field goal that tied the score at 10 with 1:53 remaining in regulation.
Navy picked up only one first down on its final possession of the game and the game went into overtime. Curiously, Niumatalolo did not insert Maasai Maynor, the team’s best throwing quarterback, to start the last drive. Maynor came in on third down, but his deep pass was way overthrown.
