Army ‘never ever stopped combating,’ stuns Navy in 2OT

PHILADELPHIA– Navy running back Anton Hall Jr. collapsed to the ground and buried his face in his hands. West Point cadets spilled from the stands onto the field and joined Army players who duped their helmets and ran around in celebration.Hall’s push towards

the end zone in the 2nd overtime– and very first OT game in Army-Navy history– resulted in a fumble that Army recuperated. The Black Knights went from possibly playing for a tie to just betting a winning rating. “In some way, the ball got loose and we hit

that thing when we needed to,”Army coach Jeff Monken said.Quinn Maretzki kicked the game-winning 39-yard basket after he

had actually sent the game into overtime with a 37-yarder late in the 4th quarter and led Army past The Midshipmen 20-17 on Saturday night in the very first OT game in the 123 matchups of”America’s Game. “”It’s clearly a huge minute, however I attempt my best to put that aside,”

Maretzki said.”Simply being able to obstruct whatever out, [my teammates] just made that task so simple for me. So I simply had to go out there and not even really think. “Hall– who earlier raced 77 lawns for a TD and 10-7 lead– coughed up the ball as he plunged toward the end zone and stood crestfallen as Maretzki prepared to kick the winner. Hall dropped to the ground as the kick cruised through the uprights and he was consoled by teammate Amin Hassan. But the fullback’s fumble forced by Austin Hill and recovered by protective lineman Nate Smith will forever be engraved on the highlight reel of game-changing plays in the series.”The game is not lost with him. That could take place to anyone that was carrying on that one play, “Navy quarterback Xavier Arline stated.”They made a good play. That’s football. That’s life. The game was not lost within that a person play. “Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo stood hunched on the sideline and could not stand to view the last field

objective.”What do you tell them when you get your heart broken,”Niumatalolo said.”We were in the chauffeur’s seat.

We were feeling respectable. Unfortunately, the game slipped out of our hands. “The offense was stagnant throughout the game till the waning moments of regulation when Maretzki kicked the 37-yarder with

1:53 delegated connect it at 10-all. A thrilling overtime followed.The NCAA set up overtime in 1996, and the series had actually never had to go a little extra to settle one of the sport’s biggest rivalry games.Army’s Markel Johnson ran 25 lawns for a touchdown on the first play of overtime for a 17-10 lead, and Navy matched the Black Knights when Arline tossed a 25-yard touchdown pass to Maquel Haywood that made it 17-all. It was Navy’s first conclusion of the game and Arline had perhaps the sweetest 1-of-1-for-25-yards game in Navy history. He likewise hurried for 102 yards.Navy still leads the series against Army 62-54-7.

The Black Knights, however, have won five of the previous seven meetings.Army finished 6-6; Navy was 4-8.”This team never stopped battling, they never stopped believing,”Monken said.

“In some way, some way, we discovered a method to get it done tonight. It was a legendary fight. It was one I’ll remember for a long time, most likely

permanently.”The groups integrated for only

53 lawns passing.One of Cade Ballard’s rare passing attempts for Army was a success when a pass disturbance call brought the ball to the 28 with 4 minutes left on a drive that established Maretzki’s connecting field goal.Ballard was 2-of-10 passing for 28 yards.Hall’s added the middle in the third quarter was the biggest burst

of offense of the game for either team– at that point, that run alone had actually outgained Army’s 69 total yards.His run was a double gut punch to the Black Knights after quarterback Tyhier Tyler had a 40-yard goal run erased on a penalty on the previous possession.Hall supplied among the few highlights in a game loaded with shaky punts, errant throws and a dearth of very first downs.The initially spark came in the last seconds of the very first half when Army’s Noah Short blocked Riley Riethman’s punt and Jabril Williams recuperated– after almost knocking the ball out of the end zone– for the goal and a 7-3 lead.That little bit of excitement in front of a jam-packed house of 69,117 at Lincoln Financial Field just about made up for 29 minutes of two offenses that might not move the ball downfield.The first half ended with 0 passing yards.

From both teams. Zero.That stat of futility wasn’t necessarily unusual for either program. Navy won two games this season without finishing a pass, and Army tossed for 852 yards passing– this season. That’s about 2 1/2 games of yardage on the exact same field for Philadelphia Eagles QB Jalen Hurts.With points at a premium, Navy sent out Bijan Nichols for a long field goal, and his 44-yarder hugged the within the right goal post for a 3-0 lead in the 2nd quarter.Army finished the half 0-for-5 death, failed to convert on 5 of six

3rd downs and had 33 overall lawns in the half.This game is seldom about quality football anyway and more about the pageantry and revelry of cadets and midshipmen standing, bouncing and cheering for their branch. The hours before kickoff were highlighted by the Army Corps of Cadets and the Brigade of Midshipmen march onto the field. The Navy Leap Frogs parachute team made a holler from the crowd with each safe landing on the field. Mark Wahlberg even made an appearance and jumped into a crowd of midshipmen and then got an award for his work with the armed force.