Army savors snowy victory over Navy as late FG misses
PHILADELPHIA — Just when it seemed that the Army-Navy game couldn't get any more intense, it snowed.
Then 60 minutes of bruising football came down to squinting through that snow to see where a long, last-second field goal attempt by Navy would land.
Wide left. Cue the celebration for Army. The Black Knights are back.
Bennett Moehring narrowly missed a 48-yard field goal on the final play and Army held off Navy 14-13 on Saturday to defeat Navy for the second straight season and win the Commander-inChief's Trophy for the first time since 1996.
"We've got seniors in there who went 4-8 as freshmen and 2-10 as sophomores," Army coach Jeff Monken said. "Now they've won 17 games in the last two years. Really an incredible change."
After trailing most of the game, Ahmad Bradshaw pushed over the goal line on a quarterback sneak with 5:10 remaining and Blake Wilson kicked the extra point to put Army (9-3) ahead 14-13.
But Navy's spectacular Malcolm Perry wasn't finished. The quarterback, who ran for 250 yards on 30 carries and a 68-yard score in the second quarter, led Navy (6-6) to the Army 31 with 3 seconds left.
Navy elected to try a field goal, and after about 10 players used their feet to clear the steady snow during a timeout, Moehring's kick was long enough but drifted barely left.
"Came up a couple of feet short," Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said. "This is a great rivalry. It was another classic game."
Army had lost 14 in a row to Navy before its two-game streak, and last had consecutive wins over the Midshipmen when it won five in a row from 1992 to '96.
The Black Knights claimed the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy thanks to an earlier victory over Air Force.
"That trophy hadn't been in our possession for 21 years," said Monken, in his fourth season. "To be able to accomplish that with this team is a great source of pride."
MOUNT UNION 43, WIS.OSHKOSH 40: Josh Petruccelli and Jawanza Evans-Morris ran for two touchdowns each and Mount Union rallied from 25 points down in the second half to defeat host Wisconsin-Oshkosh 43-40 when the Titans missed a 46-yard field goal attempt on the final play of a Division III national semifinal. The second-seeded Purple Raiders (14-0), in the semifinals for the 23rd straight year, go after their 13th title on Friday in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl in Salem, Virginia. They will face top-seeded Mary Hardin-Baylor (130), a 24-0 winner over Brockport. D'Angelo Fulford completed 28 of 42 passes for 330 yards and a touchdown, and also ran for score for Mount Union, who trailed 35-10 after the Titans (12-1) scored two quick touchdowns in the third quarter.
The Raiders rallied quickly with three touchdowns in less than five minutes but trailed 35-30 after a failed twopoint conversion. With Oshkosh ahead 40-36, a wild sequence set up the win. Louis Berry intercepted Brett Kasper and returned it 20 yards to the Oshkosh 45, then fumbled but recovered the ball at the Oshkosh 40. EvansMorris cashed in with a 1-yard run at 5:41.
The Titans got the ball for the final time at their 15 with 2:24 to go. Converting two fourth downs and a third down, they got to the 28, where Geisthardt's field goal attempt came up short.