Army West Point Football Rallies Past Kansas State

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Under the lights at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in front of 52,723 fans, the Army Black Knights football team (1-1) came from behind in the second half to secure a 24-21 win over the Kansas State Wildcats (1-2) on Saturday night.

It was the Black Knights’ first win over a Big 12 opponent since Sept. 23, 2006, a 27-24 overtime victory at Baylor. It was also Army’s first power conference win in a true road game since a 21-13 victory at Wake Forest Oct. 29, 2016.

In the second half, Army had outgained Kansas State 192-48 in total yardage, and 143-5 in rushing yards. The Black Knights ran 46 total second half plays, to K-State’s 13, and held the ball for 26:59 to the Wildcats’ 3:01.

Junior Cale Hellums made his first start behind center, with senior Dewayne Coleman not 100% following an injury last week. Hellums rushed for 124 yards, marking consecutive weeks the Army starting QB has eclipsed 100 yards on the ground. The Tomball, Texas native also went 7-for-11passing with 43 yards and a touchdown throw.

Hellums’ 41 total rushes were the most by any player in a single game in program history.
Army’s 237 rushing yards were the most allowed by a K-State team since 2023.

The Black Knights trailed by as much as 13-0 in the first half and were down 21-14 in the fourth quarter. After trimming that margin to 21-17 midway through the fourth quarter, Army recovered the football on its own kickoff and proceeded to drive 56 yards on 14 plays, moving the sticks on a pair of fourth downs and capping the possession with a 14-yard Hellums rush to take a lead it would never relinquish.

If Hellums was the hero on offense, none may have shined brighter down the stretch than Collin Matteson on defense. After breaking up a deep Avery Johnson pass just before the two-minute timeout, the safety from Edmond, Okla. intercepted Johnson with just 1:35 remining in the game to effectively seal the victory.

LB Andon Thomas led the team in tackles with nine, including eight solo tackles Saturday.
Army won toss and deferred to the second half.

Kansas State picked up two first downs on its opening drive after starting with excellent field position following a 44-yard opening kickoff return. But Army’s defense held the Wildcats offense to three points in the red zone, after LB Kalib Fortner recorded a tackle for loss on third-and-1.

Army picked up one first down on its opening offensive series before punting.

Army’s defense was able to force a punt on K-State’s second offensive drive as S Casey Larkin made a big stop on third down, tackling the Wildcat receiver short of the sticks.
The first quarter ended with K-State leading 3-0.

Early in the second quarter, the Black Knights faced a fourth-and-3 from their own 48-yard line as Hellums had an open RB Carson Smith with the throw just behind him resulting in a turnover on downs.

Two plays later, on K-State’s next offensive possession, Johnson connected with WR Jerand Bradley for a 35-yard touchdown. However, after an official review, the call on the field was overturned as the receiver did not maintain possession of the catch in the end zone. But later on the same drive, the Wildcats would strike on a fourth-and-7 as Johnson threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Jaron Tibbs to take a 10-0 lead over the Black Knights.

On Army’s next drive, SB Noah Short broke off a 17-yard run to the left side off an option pitch by Hellums, but Army would not be able to maintain the drive, punting four plays later.

The Wildcats marched into the red zone on their ensuing drive, bleeding over seven minutes of clock across 12 plays. However, Army was once again able to hold the home team to three points, with an end zone pass breakup on third-and-12.

The final drive of the half was Army’s best of the game to that point. With just 2:25 remaining before the break, Hellums led the offense 75 yards over 16 plays. Army picked up a trio of third downs on the drive, including two with Hellums’ arm. An 18-yard pass to Short on third-and-5 with 20 seconds to play in the half subsequently marched the Black Knights into the red zone.

With the ball on the two-yard line with two seconds in the half, Monken opted to play for the touchdown, and the decision paid off with a completed pass to Anderson in the back of the end zone as time expired, trimming the deficit to 13-7 going into the locker room.
Army received the ball out of the locker room with a golden opportunity to capitalize after the score before the half but would quickly go three-and-out.

Later in the third after a defensive stop, Monken and offensive coordinator Cody Worley dove into their bag of tricks, breaking out a double pass where Short threw a 52-yard pass down the right sideline to a wide-open Anderson to get down to the K-State 34-yard line. Later in the drive Army would convert a fourth-and-4 from the K-State 16 when RB Hayden Reed got to the edge for a gain of five and a fresh set of downs.

Army faced another fourth down inside the red zone from the Wildcats’ 4-yard line with 3:36 to go in the third, in which Monken rolled the dice again as Hellums picked up just enough to get the first down, down at the half-yard line. On the next play, Hellums snuck in for a one-yard touchdown as the Black Knights took their first lead of the night, 14-13. The drive covered 89 yards across 14 plays, taking 7:58 off the game clock.

However, the Army lead proved to be short-lived, as K-State returner Bryce Noernberg returned the kickoff 99 yards for a score to quickly go back in front. The Wildcats would then convert a two-point conversion to go up seven, 21-14.

Army responded by putting together another long drive. This time the drive was 13 plays, 57 yards, 7:22 off the clock ending in a 35-yard field goal by Dawson Jones to cut the deficit, 21-17.

Army quickly regained possession of the football, as an Anderson Britton kickoff deflected off a Wildcat upback, and was recovered by Cole Searight at the Army 44.

Hellums converted a fourth-and-4 with a six-yard scramble on the drive’s first set of downs and followed that with a sneak on fourth-and-inches from the Wildcats’ 22 with 4:36 in the game. The quarterback would then scamper for 14 yards to give Army a 24-21 lead with 2:55 to play.

After Kansas State regained the ball, Matteson broke up a pass intended for K-State’s Tibbs with 2:17 left. The play was reviewed for a possible catch and fumble, but the incompletion was upheld. But after the Wildcats picked up a fourth-and-5 from their 44 with 1:59 to play, it was Matteson who came up with the game-sealing interception with 1:35 left on the clock, reacting to a deflection off the hands of K-State’s Joe Jackson and completing the interception after initially grabbing the football with just one hand.