Army Black Knights Fall to Navy in Rivalry Tilt

PHILADELPHIA, PA – In the 120th installment of the Army-Navy Game presented by USAA, Army West Point fell to service-academy foe No. 21 Navy, 31-7, on Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field.

The Black Knights logged 148 yards of total offense opposite the Midshipmen (10-2). In his first collegiate start behind center, Christian Anderson scored Army’s lone touchdown and led the way with a team-best 56 yards on 21 totes. The junior added 18 yards through the air on a pair of completions. Sandon McCoy and Connor Slomka combined for 42 yards on the ground after logging 21 yards apiece.

On the defensive side of the ball, Edriece Patterson, Arik Smith and Jeremiah Lowery each set career marks in tackles. Patterson and Smith both tallied 12 to lead to the defensive unit, while Lowery came away with nine. In the final game of his career, Cole Christiansen had a sack and recorded nine stops.

Both Army and Navy had unsuccessful opening drives to begin the game, but the Black Knights capitalized when they got the ball back. With 11:08 on the clock, Army used 18 plays to drive 78 yards down the field before Anderson scampered his way in for the score from five yards out. The junior quarterback was responsible for 45 rushing yards during the scoring drive.

When the Midshipmen regained possession, they needed just five plays to even the score at 7-7 as Malcolm Perry finished off the 75-yard drive with a 55-yard touchdown run.

With 4:42 remaining in the half, the Midshipmen marched 91 yards down the field to go ahead to take a 14-7 lead into the half. Navy used a trick play that had Chance Warren lobbing a ball to Jamale Carothers from one-yard out for the touchdown.

Navy had the ball to open the second half and worked its way into field goal range. Bijan Nichols lined up for the 29-yard try, but Elijah Riley leapt across the line of scrimmage to block the kick and keep the game within a score.

After forcing the Black Knights to punt on the ensuing drive, the Midshipmen went ahead by two touchdowns, 21-7, after a seven-play, 45-yard drive that was capped by a Carothers five-yard rushing score.

With a 37-yard field goal and a 15-yard Perry touchdown rush in the fourth quarter, the Midshipmen secured a 31-7 victory over the Black Knights.