Lavatai runs for 2 TDs, Navy’s D dominates in win over Army
Navy had its way Army. It was good, aggressive, lucky and most of all angry with the idea the Black Knights had turned the tables in the one of college football’s biggest rivalries.
Quarterback Tai Lavatai ran for two touchdowns and Navy’s defense limited Army to 57 secondhalf yards and a season-low 232 overall in a 17-13 victory Saturday in a game played at the Meadowlands to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The win more than made season for Navy (4-8), which faced 11 bowlbound teams, tops in the nation. It also gave them only their second win in the last six games with their biggest rivals, and they were not averse to boasting about it.
“We’ve faced a lot of adversity this year and guys keep consistently coming back and battling and not giving up,” senior linebacker Diego Fagot said. “Regardless of the score, we’re going to keep playing as hard as we can. We pride ourselves on that. I mean, I can’t say enough about how they think they’re the last of the hard. But it’s just not the case. They’re our little brothers.”
Navy dominated against bowlbound Army (8-4) after giving up an early touchdown. It outgained them 278 yards to 232, including 196-124 on the ground against the nation’s No. 2 rushing offense. They held the ball for 34:25 and converted three big plays, including a fourth-down, fake punt in the fourth quarter that wasn’t supposed
to be a fake punt.
“It is good to be lucky,” Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said of the 4-yard, first-down run by Fagot that set up Bijan Nichols 43-yard field goal and kept alive a nearly nine-minute drive.
The up-back on a punt, Fagot said he made a line call because Army overloaded one side. Freshman center Ethan Nguyen mistook it for a fake call and Fagot got the first down despite being hit in the facemask with the snap.
“I mean, as a linebacker, you kind of already have tunnel vision, so I wasn’t really expecting it,” Fagot said. “So when I caught it, I just I just started running straight.” It worked.
The Navy defense and Fagot also
made the big play at the end, stopping Army quarterback Christian Anderson a yard short at the Navy 46 on fourth down with 91 seconds left.
“Honestly, it came down to that last one,” said Anderson, who scored on a 56-yard run on the fourth play from scrimmage. “I feel like we were moving the ball pretty OK. Then we got to the fourth down. I’ve just got to be able to make that run and get that conversion.”
Navy ran out the clock and then celebrated.
“Obviously it’s something we dream of,” Navy senior center Pierce Banbury said. “That is the reason I came to the Academy, to have that feeling. Right now, I am speechless.”