Fleet-footed Perry rushes for 304 in win
Mids halt 3-game skid in annual service academy meeting
PHILADELPHIA — Navy used a trick play to help reverse a rare losing streak against Army, and Malcolm Perry ran for a career-high 304 yards and two touchdowns in front of President Donald Trump in the No. 23 Mids’ 31-7 victory Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field.
Navy won the Commander-InChief’s
Trophy for the 16th time and snapped a three-game losing streak against Army in the 120th game between the service academies.
Navy leads the series 61-52-7. The Black Knights (5-8) were trying to win four straight games in the series for the first time since doing so from 1993 to 1996.
Perry, the 5-foot-9, 190-pound senior quarterback, helped the fleet-of-foot Navy offense run away with the game with another performance for the record books. He ran for a 55-yard touchdown in the first half, added a 44-yard scamper and set Navy season records in yards rushing and total 100-yard games.
But his most GIF-worthy play didn’t end up with his name on the scoring sheet. Perry took the snap at the 1-yard line, ran to his left and handed off the ball to receiver Chance Warren, who threw to Jamale Carothers for the score
that gave Navy a 14-7 lead. It was Navy’s twist on the Philly Special at the home of the NFL’s Eagles.
It was The Mids’ only passing yard of the game. Perry was the game’s MVP.
Perry did not attempt a pass, and Army surprise starter Christian Anderson threw just one. There was more running at the Linc than at the Penn Relays held down the road each spring.
Anderson wasn’t even listed on the two-deep depth chart and got the call over an apparently injured Kelvin Hopkins Jr. Hopkins had two rushing touchdowns last year in Army’s 17-10 win over Navy.
Anderson sparked the Black Knights on the game’s opening drive, scoring on a 5-yard run to cap a methodical 10-minute, 41-second drive.
Perry needed just four plays to even the score on his first dynamic run of the game that sent the Mids into a frenzy. The traditional Philly game drew 68,075 fans, and ESPN’s “College GameDay” was on hand.
The Cadets and Midshipmen stood, saluted, bounced and cheered for the entirety of what’s billed as “America’s
Game.” President Trump visited for the second straight year. He also was at the 2016 game as president-elect.
He wore a red “Keep America Great” hat for the traditional coin flip in misty conditions. Army called heads, the coin landed tails, and the Midshipmen deferred possession. The referee said before the toss it was with, “great pride, great honor, to welcome our Commander in Chief, our President of the United States, Donald J. Trump. Mr. President, thank you for all that you do.”
With pride and patriotism stretched end zone to end zone, the president sat on the Army side of the field in the first half and crossed the field to the Navy side for the second half.
Carothers crossed the goal line for a 5-yard score in the third quarter that made it 21-3 and sent the 10 1⁄2-point favorite Mids on their way toward clinching the CIC Trophy, awarded to the team with the best record in games among the three service academies.
Bijan Nichols kicked a 37-yard field goal and Perry added a 15-yard TD run in the fourth.
Perry passed Napoleon McCallum to set Navy’s singleseason rushing mark. McCallum held the record since 1983 with 1,587 yards.
Perry also became Navy’s single-season record holder in total offense and with nine straight 100-yard rushing games. He also became the career leading rusher in the Army-Navy series.
The Black Knights rushed for only 122 yards after averaging 311.7 yards this season, good enough for second nationally. Army had to surrender the CIC Trophy after winning it in consecutive seasons for the first time in program history.
Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo became the winningest coach in the history of the Army-Navy series with nine.