Custody of the Commander-in-Chief’s trophy for the next year was on the line as the Black Knights of Army West Point hosted the Falcons of Air Force in round 2 of the competition. Air Force won round 1 of the competition by beating Navy 35-7 in Colorado Springs earlier this season, and could win the trophy outright with a victory at West Point. The Black Knights won the trophy last year; so a win today would keep the trophy at West Point regardless of the outcome of the Navy game in December.

An overnight storm that passed through the area overnight was gone, leaving a seasonably cool and cloudy day for the game. The temperature was 54 degrees with winds at 32-52 mph bringing the wind chill factor into the mid 40s, as a sell-out crowd of 38,502 fans filled the seats at Michie Stadium.

The offense gave the Black Knights an early 14-0 lead at halftime, but then it fell on the defense and special teams to secure the 17-14 win.

The Black Knights called a fair catch on the opening kickoff to start their opening possession on the 25. Army had to overcome two chop blocks and an unnecessary roughness penalty in their opening 75 yard scoring drive, to take a 7-0 early lead. Two complete pass completions by quarterback Kelvin Hopkins sustained the drive, and fullback Darnell Woolfolk scored from 2 yards out to cap the 21 yard drive that ate up nearly 13 minutes of the first quarter.

The Falcons got one first down on a 29 yard pass completion, but the Black Knight defense held them to negative yards as the first quarter ended with Air Force on the Army 45 and Army holding a 7-0 lead.

Air Force was forced to punt the ball to Mike Reynolds, who returned the ball to the 26 where Army started its second possession, but this time, the Falcon defense held Army to negative yardage on their first two runs and Kelvin Hopkins’ pass attempt was incomplete, forcing Army to punt the ball away. Nick Schrage came in to boot a 47 yard punt to the AF 28.

Air Force picked up a first down on an unsportsmanlike conduct call on James Nachtical, but the defense held the Falcons to 8 yards on the next three plays to force another AF punt that Reynolds fielded on the Army 11.

After picking up a first down to the 33, Air Force held Army to 9 yards on the next three plays to bring up a 4th and 1 at the 42, and HC Jeff Monken elected to go for the conversion. Woolfolk found a big hole for a 52 yard gain to the AF 6, and Hopkins carried in from there to increase the lead to 14-0.

Air Force called for a fair catch to start on the 25 and QB, Isaiah Sanders took to the air to get the Falcons as far as the Army 14, but a chop block call set them back to the 29 where they had a first and 25. After a short pass picked up two yards, Sanders tried to go deep, but Mike Reynolds stepped in front of the receiver to intercept the ball on the Army 4 yard line. With 46 seconds left in the half, HC Jeff Monken kept the ball on the ground to run out the clock.

Quick Halftime Statistics

- Time of Possession: Army 22:07 AFA 7:53

- Plays: Army 37 AFA 17

- Rushing yards: Army 174, AFA 33

- Passing: Army 2-3-0 for 35 yards, AFA 5-7-1 for 77 yards

- Penatles: Army 4 for 60 yards, AFA 2 for 20 yards

Air Force returned the second half kickoff to the 26 and Calhoun sent in Donald Hammond to replace Sanders at QB. Hammond went back to the air to get AF as far as the Army 36, where they faced a 4th down and 4. Calhoun went for it on fourth down, and initially looked to have moved the chains, but a chop block call set AF back 10 yards and they were forced to punt the ball away. The punt barely got past an AF coverage man into the end zone for a touchback, and Army started their first possession of the second half from the 20.

The Falcon defense held Army to 9 yards in 3 plays, and Monken elected to punt it away from deep in his own territory. Schrage came in to boot a 41 yard punt to the AF 29, where the Falcons started their second possession of the half.

Hammond passed the Falcons to the Army 31, but a stop for no gain followed by 2 incomplete passes brought up 4th and 10, and Hammond’s pass attempt fell incomplete to turn the ball back to Army.

Army lost 1 yard in 3 plays and had to punt it away. Schrage held the ball too long and Jere Fejedelem got enough of a hand on the ball to limit the punt to 4 yards, giving the Falcoms excellent field position on the Army 34..

It took Air Force 9 plays, including a successful fourth down conversion, to move the ball 34 yards and close the gap to 14-6 with 56 seconds left in the third quarter. AF kicker Koehnke bounced his PAT attempt off the goal post for a missed PAT to leave the Falcons 8 points behind.

Army ran 2 plays for 14 yards and a first down to finish out third quarter with a first down on their own 39.

The Black Knights kept to the ground to march another 48 yards, where they faced a 4th and 3 on the AF 13. Monken called a timeout to decide whether to go for first down of field goal, and then chose the field goal. John Abercromle came on to split the uprights from 37 yards out to give Army West Point an 11 point lead.

Air Force got the ball back on their 25 with 8:35 left in the game and a big11 point gap to close. Three rushing plays picked up a first down at the 36, and Hammond scrambled for another first down to the 47. Hammond’s threw two incomplete passes to bring up a 3d and 10, but then AF got a break when the officials called Mike Reynolds for pass interference to give them another first down and keep the drive alive. Hammond found Cole Fagan open for a 30 yard completion to the Army 14, and AF scored in three more plays to close the gap to 17-12. There was no defender covering the perimeter as Saucier took a pitch to complete an easy 2 point conversion to draw AF within 3.

Kell Walker attempted his return on the ensuing, but got only as far as the 20, where Army had the ball with 5:19 on the clock, needing a couple of first downs to close out the game. The Black Knights picked up one first down, but then AF held them to 2 yards in two plays to bring up a 3d and 8. Hopkins attempted a pass to Kjetl Cline, and the officials did not call what appeared to be AF interference on the play. So Schrage was sent in to punt it away again, and got off a 42 yard kidk to the AF 27, where the Falcons launched their final assault with 3:02 left in the game.

Hammond got the Falcons as far as the Army 38, but on 3d and 1, Cole Christiansen dropped Remsberg for a crucial 2 yard loss to the 40 to bring up a 4th and 3. Calhoun had no choice but to go for it, and Christiansen and Nachtigal came through with the game winning stop to turn the ball over to Army with 1:10 left in the game. Calhound called two timeouts to delay the inevitable, but Army converted on a 4th and 1 with 17 seconds left to seal the win.

Quick Final Statistics

- Time of Possession: Army 37:32 AFA 22:38

- Plays: Army 64 AFA 37

- Rushing yards: Army 59 attempts for 242 yards, AFA 35 attempts for 125 yards

- Passing: Army 3-5-0 for 44 yards, AFA 12-22-1 for 197 yards

- Penatles: Army 4 for 60 yards, AFA 2 for 20 yards

- Third Down Conversions: Army 8 of 16, AFA 3 of 9

- Fourth Down Conversions: Army 3 of 3, AFA 1 of 3

- Darnell Woolfolk led all rushers with 117 yards including a 52 yard career high run.

- Woolfolk scored 1 rushing touchdown and Hopkins scored the other.

- John Abercrombie converted 2 of 2 PAT attempts and had a 37 yard field goal to match his career long.

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