Navy squeaks out 2-0 win over Army in flag football

JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. – Four-and-a-half feet. That’s the difference between the width of NFL goal posts and amateur goal posts. And that difference was a key factor in Kenisel Tupuola’s missed 31-yard field attempt sailing three feet to the right of the goal post with 4 seconds left in the game giving the Navy a 2-0 flag football win over the Army at Lumen Field in Seattle Dec. 8.

“That was a tough one,” said the Army’s head coach Robert Pierce. “Those narrow goal posts – oh, it would have been close on our goal posts. But what are you going to do?”

The win for the Navy, made up of Sailors and Marines from Naval Bases Kitsap, Everett and Whidbey Island, breaks a three-game losing streak to the Army, made up of Soldiers and Airmen on Joint Base Lewis-McChord. The Navy takes a 15-9 lead in the series that started in 2000.

If you were among the 2,000 people at the game expecting a high-scoring battle like last year’s thrilling 35-28 Army win in triple overtime at JBLM, you were bitterly disappointed. But if you were a defensive-minded fan, you were in paradise.

With the Navy threatening to score on a fourth and goal on the Army 2-yard line with 1:52 left in the first half, the Army defense stepped up and stopped the threat.

Navy’s lone score came with 1:17 left in the first half when Army quarterback Garret Sytsma scrambled out of his own endzone with Navy defenders in hot pursuit before completing a 15-yard pass to Dlyan Thomas. The officials threw a flag against Sytsma for guarding his flags with his arm for a penalty. Since the penalty happened in the endzone, the Navy was awarded a safety.

JBLM’s best offensive drive came in the fourth quarter with Galo Tuiolosega at quarterback. On a second and goal from the Navy 2-yard line, Tuiolosega connected with Triston Hillman on a corner route in the endzone for an apparent Army touchdown. However, Navy was called for offsides, and an early official’s whistle nullified the play and the score.

On the following second and goal, the Navy intercepted Tuiolosega’s pass a yard deep in the endzone and ran it 101 yards for a score. But that touchdown was taken off the board as the officials called a guarding the flag penalty on the run back, giving the Navy the ball near midfield with about seven minutes left in the game.

Peter Karol led a solid JBLM linebacker core sacking the Navy quarterback for an 8-yard loss on first down. Teammate and fellow linebacker Peter Osborn nearly picked off the pass on the next play forcing the Navy into a long, third and 18. JBLM’s defense held making it fourth and 18 with 4:30 to go and forcing the Navy to punt.

After the punt return, Army took over on its own 34-yard line with 4:19 on the clock. Sytsma returned at quarterback and led the Army offense down the field with a series of short passes, a well-timed run from Kalvin Charles and two key Navy penalties.

The Army moved the ball to the Navy 15 with 4 seconds left for a chance to win the game with a field goal.

“We’ll just regroup and try and take the trophy back next year,” Pierce said. “I don’t know what else to say but I’m proud of our team. We were so close.”