West Point – Air Force used the running skills of not one, but two quarterbacks, a bruising offensive line and just enough defense to capture its first Commander in Chief Trophy in three seasons Saturday night.
Playing before a crowd of 33,575 at rain-soaked Michie Stadium, the Falcons scored a go-ahead touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter and then managed to shut down Army the rest of the way to notch a 24-21 victory and gain the rights to the coveted trophy as well as improve their record to 7-2.
Inearly October, Air Force defeated Navy, 14-9, to win the first leg of the competition between the three service academies. Army, now 5-4 overall, plays Navy at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. on Dec. 12 in a game that, while still important, suddenly has less meaning for both teams. Army, which hosts East Carolina on Nov. 21 after a bye week, still needs one more win to become bowl-eligible with three games left on the slate, though the Navy game is played after bowl bids are sent out.
Air Force won this game largely because of the legs, strength and determination of senior starting quarterback Kemper Hodges (119 rushing yards and a touchdown on 17 carries) and former starter Evan Medders, who missed the Falcons last game with turf toe. A sophomore, Medders returned to gain 59 yards and score a touchdown on 13 carries and threw for 84 yards and a touchdown on six of eight passing.
But, the two signal callers did not do it by themselves. The Falcons offensive line simply overwhelmed Army’s defense for most of the game, opening seams that allowed them and running back Gage LaDue (65 yards on 11 carries) the chance for big runs. The Air Force defense, meanwhile, did what it had to do, limiting Army to only 220 total offensive yards, and the much-heralded Black Knight rushing attack to just 182 yards, about half of its nation’s best average per game.
“Credit to the other team and they outplayed us and that is the bottom line,” said Army coach Jeff Monken, who is now 7-6 against the Falcons. “We gave ourselves some chances, certainly in the second half (where we) had the resolve to take the lead. They made plays and we didn’t down the stretch. Credit to them, they won the football game.”
Frankly, the vibe was bad for Army from the outset. Dawson Jones, who has been outstanding this year, missed a 46-yard field goal attempt into a stiff wind wide right on the first series of the game after Army used nearly 8:30 of the clock and gained 54 yards on 15 plays. After Air Force took a 3-0 lead on their first possession, Black Knights punter James Wagenseller, who has also been stellar this season, slipped on the wet turf and the game officials ruled that his knee hit the ground at the Army 13-yard line just moments later.
It took Hodges just three plays to score the Falcons first touchdown and give Air Force a 10-0 lead with 13:47 left in the first half.
Army closed the gap to 10-7 when Godspower Nwawuihe finished a 15-play 75-yard drive with a 21-yard touchdown run with less than four minutes left in the half.
But the Black Knights were simply not able to get the Air Force offense off the field and Medders’ 4-yard touchdown with just seven seconds left before halftime gave the Falcons a 17-7 lead.
With the Army offense running on fumes, the Army coaching staff decided to replace starter Cale Hellum, who only gained 34 yards on 13 carries in the game, with sophomore Bryson Luter early in the second half. The move paid almost immediate dividends, with Luter quickly reeling off a 39-yard run to the Air Force 12-yard line and Hellums coming in to score a touchdown midway through the third quarter to cut the Falcon lead to 17-14.
Things got even better. The Army defense forced a quick three-and-out and Air Force’s faked punt play came up one yard short, giving the Black Knights the ball on the Falcons’ 34-yard line. Three plays later, Luter scored on a 19-yard dash to give Army its first lead of the day, 21-17, with 2:40 left in the game.
But the Falcons quickly drove 75-yards on just seven plays, with Medders hitting a wide-open tight end Simon Kibbee with a 24-yard pass for a touchdown to take the lead back, 24-21.
Then the wheels completely came off the Army offensive attack. The next drive ended when Hellums pass was intercepted by Korey Johnson on the Army 39-yard line. Then, Army’s last possession of the game, which started when the defense stopped a fourth down try by Air Force on the one-yard line, managed to pick up just two yards. After a punt, Air Force used nine plays to run out the clock.
“I thought our guys played really hard, and played physical but so did their players,” said Monken. “There is a trophy on the line and both teams wanted it desperately and both teams really fought for it. Unfortunately, they made more plays and they are taking the trophy home.”
Now, Monken hopes his team and the coaching staff can learn from mistakes made in the game and improve for the rest of the season.
“Unfortunately, we were not victorious and now we are trying to find a way to grow from this,” Monken added. “See our mistakes and missed assignments and fundamental errors that we can get better at. We certainly need to when we play East Carolina in a couple of weeks.”
