BALTIMORE (Army News Service, Dec. 13, 2014) -- Army kept it close but dropped a 17-10 decision to Navy, extending the Midshipmen's streak to 13 consecutive victories over the Black Knights in the 115th edition of the storied rivalry.
On Navy's first possession, Army defensive back Josh Jenkins blocked Pablo Beltran's punt and Army's Xavier Moss scooped up the ball and dashed nine yards for a touchdown.
"We just had a play called up for a 10-man block," Jenkins said. "I was put in a great position and I just did my job and watched everybody else make a play after."
Daniel Grochowski added the point after, and Army led 7-0 with 9:36 remaining in the first quarter.
Navy knotted the score at 7-7 on Jamir Tillman's nine-yard touchdown reception that capped a six-play, 70-yard drive by the Midshipmen, with 18 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
"I said it from day one, they call on me to make plays and I'm going to do that," said Tillman, who also had a 39-yard reception earlier in the drive. "I give credit to Army because they were tough, so we had to do a couple different things and that gave me a couple opportunities to make some plays.
"Every drive is big against Army-Navy," Tillman added. "You never know which way it's going to swing, and luckily it went in our favor this game."
The Midshipmen mounted their drive to a 7-7 tie after stopping the Black Knights on a fourth-and-one at the Navy 30-yard line.
After Navy's Ryan Williams-Jenkins returned the second-half kickoff 41 yards to midfield, the Midshipmen took the lead for good on Austin Grebe's 45-yard field goal for a 10-7 lead early in the third.
Navy took control with a 15-play, 69-yard drive that bridged the third and fourth quarters, capped by Reynolds' one-yard touchdown plunge that was confirmed by television replay, and the Midshipmen led 17-7 with 12:07 remaining.
Grochowski's 52-yard field goal capped the scoring for Army with 1:51 left. The Black Knights' ensuing onside kick was covered by Navy's Thomas Wilson. After Reynolds ran 19 yards for a first down, the Midshipmen took a knee and the victory at M&T Bank Stadium.
"We're certainly disappointed that we lost the game," Army coach Jeff Monken said. "I thought our guys fought tremendously hard. I'm really proud of their effort. We just didn't make enough plays to win the football game, and credit to Navy, they've got a really good football team -- such a well-coached football team -- and they made the plays they needed to win the football game.
"It stings. It's going to hurt for a long time. It will pain us until we have an opportunity to play again and try to do something about it next year."
Monken praised Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo (56-35), who broke a tie with George Welsh for most wins at the Naval Academy and became the first coach to win his first seven games against Army.
"Kenny and I share a bond, a friendship, that's lasted 25 years," Monken said. "It goes beyond just a colleague working together. There's a sense of brotherhood between he and I. We were young assistant coaches together and worked for six years under coach [Paul] Johnson. I love Kenny. I'm so proud of him and the job he's doing."
"It's tough to lose a rivalry game, and to the backyard brother, too. You want to go out and beat your brother in the backyard, and that's a little what this rivalry is like between Kenny and I."
Reynolds led Navy (7-5) with 26 carries for 100 yards and a touchdown. He also completed six of eight passes for 77 yards and a touchdown.
"He's a very good quarterback, a very good running back," said Army linebacker Jeremy Timpf, who led the Black Knights' defense with a game-high nine tackles and six assists. "He's a very talented, agile guy, so we knew we were up against a very big threat on offense. If we filled up gaps, we were going to stop him, and we did that for the most part."
Larry Dixon led Army (4-8) with 90 yards on 14 carries.
"You have to credit the other team," Dixon said. "They played a very fundamentally sound game, they played their technique proper -- they did the things that it took to shut us down.
"We fought hard. We played with everything we had. I feel like we played well; we'll see the film, obviously, but hats off to the other team. You've got to give credit where credit's due."
Army defensive end Joe Drummond summed it up for the Black Knights.
"I think a loss is a loss," said Drummond, who had a hand in nine tackles and recovered a fumble. "Regardless of the final score, coming up short, it still has the same bitterness to it."
Despite all the military passion built into the 115th Army-Navy game, the players realized their mission -- at least for one Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium.
"First, it's a tremendous honor to play in this game, being the greatest football rivalry game and possibly the greatest rivalry in all of sports," Drummond said. "And that comes from the fact that we are when we graduate, serving a bigger organization in the United States military, together, on both sides. And that we represent the Army and Navy as a whole. However, when it comes down to it, there's 11 on 11, there's a field, there's a scoreboard, two goalposts, two end zones, and when it comes down to it, it is a football game.
"It comes down to execution of assignments, fundamentals and making plays. Unfortunately, we just weren't able to make those plays in the critical situations and Navy did, and hats off to them."
Navy's 13-game winning streak against Army is the longest in a series that began in 1890. Before the Midshipmen went on their unprecedented run, neither team had won more than five in a row.
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