Army edges Navy 20-17 in 123rd meeting between two teams

If you wanted offensive brilliance, the 123rd Army-Navy Game will not rank high on your list of favorite college football games. But the 69,117 fans in attendance at “America’s Game” saw one of the most exciting finishes in the history of this annual competition, the first between the two teams to be settled in extra play since the series began in 1890.

Army’s 20-17, double-overtime triumph at Lincoln Financial Field in the 2022 edition of the contest embodied the highest ideals anyone could want for the military leaders of tomorrow – probably more than any other game of at least the last half century. Few things short of actual combat could be a better example of the old saying “you don’t go into battle with the military forces, the equipment and the geography you want – you go with what you have.” These two teams were filled with less than perfect players, but all played with a tenacity and commitment that pushed their intellectual and physical performances to the maximum and enabled their teams to play a game that will not be forgotten soon.

“What a game,” said Army Head Coach Jeff Monken, now 5-4 in Army-Navy Games. “That was two football teams that fought just as hard as they possibly could. It was an epic battle. It's one that I'll remember for a long time, probably forever, just how we managed to win. When people ask me what's different about this game, (I tell them) the difference is the players. Every one of these players and every one of those young people that were sitting up in the stands that are their classmates have made a pledge to serve this nation and to perhaps pay the ultimate price for all the rest of us who haven't made that pledge.

“That's what makes this game different. It makes the way they play this game different. They’re fighting as hard as they can on every snap. That's both sides. Tough kids, tough people that care so much about who they represent.
It feels like every single play, that the game is hanging in the balance. That's the intensity of this game. It was fought that way from start to finish. They never wavered. I look and I see their eyes on the sideline, and I can see their body language. They just never stop believing.”

Navy Head Coach Ken Niumatalolo, who was fired from his position Sunday, said on Media Day that the game would be “a slugfest.” That was a gross understatement. Army and Navy both posted struggled on offense. Army (6-6), which entered the contest ranked second in the nation with an average of 304.4 rushing yards per game, amassed just 33 yards on 14 carries on the ground in the first half and advanced just 153 total yards for the game (vs. an average of 385.5 per game coming into Saturday’s competition), while Navy (4-8) gained just 284 total yards – well below its 330.7 per gameaverage for the first 11 games.

Those performances did not occur because the players on offense forgot how to play or stopped trying. Football is not played in vacuum – there is always a cause and an effect. In this case, fantastic punting and extraordinary defensive play carried the day. Brief outbursts of offense came from rare defensive failures. It was classic, hard-defense Army-Navy football.

The punters – Riley Riethman for Navy, Billy Boehlke for Army – both had nine boots, and the vast majority of them pinned the opposition inside its own 30-yard-line. Knowing that a turnover could easily allow the other team to score, the offenses were forced to play ultra-conservatively.

Defensive play is often a matter of anticipation mixed with quick reactions, correct recognition of the threat, and proper execution of fundamental training – characteristics that those who serve in the military utilize every day. Army defenders Leo Lowin (16 tackles), Marquel Broughton (10), Chris Fey (10), Jimmy Ciarolo (nine), and Camden O’Gara (eight) were matched by Navy’s Nick Straw (nine), John Marshall, Jianni Woodson-Brooks and Colin Ramos (eight apiece), and Clay Cromwell (six). They all excelled.

With the score tied 17-17, the second overtime began with a series that ultimately proved decisive. After six running plays, Navy was on the Army 3 in a third-and-goal situation. Anton Hall Jr. took the handoff and tried to fill a gap made by his linemen, but he collided with Army’s Austin Hill, who punched the ball loose. Army’s Darius Richardson recovered it on the Army 1 to end the series. On the ensuing possession that began on the Navy 25, Army knew that a field goal could win, so the offense was more concerned about keeping possession than scoring a touchdown. Gaining just three yards, kicker Quinn Maretzki came on and nailed a 39-yard kick just inside the right upright to end a memorable game. It was a case of sweet redemption.

“I was wide right against Troy and it was really tough to let the team down that way,” said the soft-spoken Maretzki, referencing a missed field goal in November that cost Army a victory. “I’m really grateful to the team and the coaching staff who put their trust in me and to the team for putting me in the position to do it again.”

Tied 10-10, the game headed to overtime. On the very first play, the Army offensive line opened a hole and Markel Johnson galloped 25 yards to the left corner of the end zone. Navy immediately responded with QB Xavier Arline completing his first pass of the day to a wide-open Maquel Haywood on the Army 2, who walked in the endzone to even the score.

Army led 7-3 at the break and appeared to pad its advantage at 8:47 of the third quarter on a 40-yard roll left by Tyhier Tyler into the Navy end zone, but the play was nullified when the Black Knights were assessed a penalty for a block in the back. Momentum shifted at the 4:09 mark when Navy’s Ahmad Bradley pulled out his left guard slot and crossed to the right of center, holding off two Army defenders while Hall charged 77 yards through the hole and down the middle – the longest running play by Navy in the history of “America’s Game” – for the touchdown and a 10-7 Navy lead. In the final stanza of regulation, Army advanced 25 yards in 7 plays to the Navy 21, setting up Maretzki for a 37-yard field goal that knotted the tally at 10-10 with just 1:53 remaining before the end of regular play.

After a scoreless first quarter, Navy took the lead at 12:36 of the second on a 44-yard field goal by Bijan Nichols. With just 1:06 left before intermission, Navy stalled on its own 14 and a late shift of the line enabled Army’s Noah Short to charge through untouched and block the Navy punt. The ball bounced back into the Navy end zone and looked like it might trickle out the back for a touchback, but Jabril Williams got a hand on it, lost it, and finally fell on the pigskin with barely an inch to spare for an Army touchdown.

“They kept fighting,” Monken added. “That's what's awesome about this game, what's awesome about this team. For this senior class, every one of those guys – we’ve got one guy graduating this coming Friday, Tyhier Tyler; the rest of the guys are going to graduate in May. They're going to take command of soldiers, have to lead soldiers. They will be in much tougher fights with stakes much higher than they were in tonight. To be able to have that grit and that toughness and that belief as leaders, soldiers are going to follow them, and they're going to follow that lead. That's what was on display tonight.

“It wasn't just on our sideline. The other team was fighting that way, too. That's what's great about this game and about these teams. We want to win this game. We want to beat their pants off. I want to beat them every time we play 'em. But I respect the fight that the competitors have in this game. Their guys, our guys. It's what makes our military the best fighting force this world has ever known, because of people like that leading soldiers.”