BALTIMORE — Blake Horvath to Eli Heidenreich.
That’s the connection that led Navy to such a memorable season, and the two players came through again on the biggest play of the biggest game.
Horvath threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Heidenreich on fourth-and-goal with 6:32 remaining, and No. 22 Navy rallied to beat Army 17-16 on Saturday. Heidenreich, the career and single-season leader in yards receiving for the Midshipmen, caught six of Horvath’s seven completions Saturday.
«Who wouldn’t go to him?» Horvath said. «Talk about an all-time Navy legend. You’re going to be talking about Eli Heidenreich for years and years and years.»
Although it was clearly a passing situation and Heidenreich was Navy’s top target, he was single-covered over the middle.
Eric Ford had a chance to scoop it up, but Navy running back Alex Tecza lunged to prevent that, and Heidenreich eventually fell on the ball at the 8.
«That’s probably the last thing you want to see on the 1-yard line is you turn around and the ball is just bouncing behind you,» Heidenreich said. «I was blocking down. I thought he had pushed in, and kind of out of my peripheral I saw it going behind me.»
On the next play, Horvath was nearly sacked, but he threw the ball toward Tecza as Horvath went down. The ball fell incomplete instead of being caught around the 15, which was just as well for Navy because it made going for it on fourth down more viable.
«I kind of felt like we had to,» Navy coach Brian Newberry said. «The nature of what they do offensively, despite how well we played in the second half, you may not get the ball back.»
Cale Hellums answered with a 2-yarder. Army’s first drive didn’t end until five seconds into the second quarter.
Then, it was a while before anyone reached the end zone again. With Army up 10-7 late in the second quarter, the ball slipped out of Horvath’s hand as he looked to pass. Army recovered the fumble at its 45 with 20 seconds to play and moved into range for a 45-yard field goal by Dawson Jones.
Navy’s defense stepped up in the second half, but the Midshipmen still flirted with disaster. Horvath threw an interception in the third quarter that was initially returned to the end zone, but a replay showed Justin Weaver’s knee was down when he picked off the pass at the Navy 32. The Black Knights settled for three when Dawson connected on a career-long 48-yard kick.
Navy’s Wing-T offense has been explosive this season. The Midshipmen entered the day with an FBS-high 10 plays of at least 60 yards. Army mostly kept them contained, but Horvath slipped free for a 37-yard run that set up a third-quarter field goal that made it 16-10.
After Hellums’ underthrown pass was intercepted by Phillip Hamilton, giving Navy the ball at the 50 with 11:19 to play, Tecza’s 24-yard run made it first-and-goal from the 5.
Trump tossed the coin before the game at midfield, then returned at halftime to walk from the Navy sideline to the Army one.
Up next for Navy is a Jan. 2 game against Cincinnati in the Liberty Bowl. Army faces UConn in the Fenway Bowl on Dec. 27.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
