A.M. Allan here and as we just witnessed, a game of inches, resilience and highlights, as the Black Knights withstood the Midshipmen's late attempted 4th quarter comeback and came away with a 17-11 win.
Game Of Inches
•Bryson Daily's TD to Tyson Riley was just over the fingertips of the Midshipmen defender, which put the Black Knights up early, 7-0.
• It appeared that wide receiver Noah Short had a potential touchdown ready to fall in his hands, but the Navy’s defender (Lane) tips the pass at the Navy 15-yard line negating a score or at least a long completion.
• On 4th and 2, the Army defense stopped Navy QB (Tai Lavatai) on the Army 37-yard line, but inches short of the first down. The Black Knights get the ball back and Quinn hits a 2nd quarter-ending field goal that gives Army a 10-0 halftime lead.
• Who can forget safety Max Didomenico’s finger-tip pass breakup with .57 seconds remaining in the 4th quarter, which surely neglected or stalled Navy’s attempted last-minute comeback?
• But it didn’t stop there. With all 65k plus fans on the edge of their seats, Navy had the ball on the 2-yard line, 4th & goal with 11 seconds remaining in the game and score, Army 17 & Navy 9. Midshipmen QB Lavatai attempted to sneak it in, which turned into a rugby scrum, but he was inches short and closed out what turned into an exciting Army win and the CiC Trophy.
I am sure there were a few more “inch moments”, but couple those with the Army team’s resilience, it was a hard-fought contest.
Highlights
But beyond the “Inches Highlights”, there were several key plays that made the difference as well.
It appeared that every time frosh running back Kanye Udoh touched the ball, he was destined to get positive yardage and he almost broke a couple. The talented freshman rushed for 88 yards (6.8 avg.) on the day
His running partner and quarterback Bryson Daily left it all on the field. The junior QB rushed for 88 hard-earned yards on the day but also was 7-14 passing for 54 yards, but a very important key TD pass to Tyson Riley.
Special teams have really been critical this season for the Black Knights, and Mr. Consistency kicker Quinn Maretzki continued to make it happen as he hit a 47-yard field goal to end the 2nd quarter, as Army went into halftime with a 10-7 lead.
On defense, it was a collective effort, but linebacker Jimmy Ciarlo was all over the field.
Speaking of linebackers and big plays … in the 4th quarter, Jackson Powell made a vicious 2nd down hit that eventually led to the Midshipmen having to punt.
Safety Max DiDomenico intercepted a pass during the first half that halted a Navy drive.
Perhaps the defensive highlight for the Black Knights, or maybe icing on the cake was when up-and-coming linebacker Kalib Fortner hit Lavatai causing a fumble where the sophomore picked the ball up and rambled 44 yards for a touchdown and gave Army a 17-3 lead.
Normally, this is the time in which I say, I will turn it over GBK Analyst, Joe Iacono, who will have his recap and summary. Well due to the media demand, it was decided that Joe will join the post-game press conference and his recap will be forthcoming and posted tomorrow.
But even before Joe's recap, let's take a look at his pre-game analysis because he was right on point when it comes to what Army needs to do to come away with a win.
Post-Game: Army Head Coach Jeff Monken & Players (LB Leo Lowin, LB Kalib Fortner, QB Bryson Daily and RB Kanye Udoh)
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