The Midshipmen waited a long time for this. They made sure to leave no doubt.
Riding the arm and legs of talented junior quarterback Blake Horvath, Navy ended a four-game losing streak to Air Force with a 34-7 victory in front of a packed Falcon Stadium on Saturday.
Horvath piled up 249 yards of offense, completing 9 of 15 passes for 134 and running 18 times for 115 and two scores, to lead a resurgent Navy program past the rebuilding Falcons (1-4).
Junior split back Eli Heidenreich was nearly as brilliant as his QB, hitting the 100-yard mark rushing (100) and receiving (101) on 11 touches for the Midshipmen, who are now averaging 43.6 points per game this season. In fact, Saturday’s point total was the lowest of the season for Navy, which is 5-0 for the first time in seven years under second-year head coach Brian Newberry.
If the Midshipmen knock off Army, also unbeaten at 5-0, later this season, they will claim the Commander-of-Chief’s Trophy for the first time in five years. That also happens to be the last time Navy beat Air Force before Saturday. The Midshipmen have gone on to win the CIC Trophy 11 of the past 12 times they defeated Air Force.
It didn’t take long for Navy to take control of its 1,400th game in program history, scoring touchdowns on two of its first three possessions.
Air Force briefly found life with Quentin Hayes at quarterback. The sophomore connected with Tre Roberson for a 45-yard touchdown strike to pull within 14-7 with 11:09 left in the second quarter. He finished with 115 yards on 5-of-6 passing. After a stop on defense, the Falcons got possession again with a chance to tie, but a three-and-out gave the ball right back to Navy.
Horvath then engineered an 8-play, 79-yard drive that ended with his second rushing score of the game — a 2-yarder that gave Navy a 21-7 lead. Air Force never got any closer the rest of the way.
The Midshipmen entered the game with the 21st offense in FBS at 466 yards per game, and they came within 3 yards of hitting that average with 329 yards on the ground and 134 through the air. A couple of fourth-and-short conversions, including a reverse pitch to Nathan Kent that went 34 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter, helped spark the offense.
Air Force had 273 total yards, 158 coming on the ground, but was 3 of 13 on third down and 1 of 3 on fourth down. It marked the fourth time this season that Navy held its opponent to three touchdowns or less.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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