Blake Horvath propels Navy over Army

LANDOVER, MARYLAND — Saturday’s 125th installment of the Army-Navy Game featured a matchup of two incredibly talented teams, but on paper, one might give the advantage to the Black Knights. Army entered Saturday’s game with an 11-1 record to their credit, a ranking of No. 22 in the country, an ACC Championship Trophy already back at West Point, and with quarterback Bryson Daily calling the signals, the sixth-leading vote-getter in this year’s Heisman Race.

But Navy had Blake Horvath.

Navy’s signal caller had been out of action since injuring his rib in mid-November during a loss to Tulane. However, he was back in the starting lineup for the Midshipmen, and was instrumental in Navy’s 31-13 win over Army.

Horvath was involved in both of Navy’s scoring plays in the first half, opening the scoring with a one-yard plunge on the first possession of the game. Horvath then staked Navy to a 14-0 lead midway through the second quarter, connecting with Brandon Chatman from 18 yards out for his 12th touchdown pass of the season:

Shortly after the second half resumed, Army cut Navy’s advantage to 14-10 with a field goal on their first possession of the third quarter. But that is when Horvath struck again, connecting with Eli Heidenreich for a 52-yard touchdown that sent the Brigade of Midshipmen into a frenzy, and both passer and receiver into the record books:

The connection was Horvath’s 13th touchdown pass of the season, matching a school record set by Ricky Dobbs back in 2010. It was also Heidenreich’s sixth touchdown reception of the season, pulling him level with the Navy record held by four players: Rob Taylor, Chris Weiler, Ryan Read, and New York Giants legend Phil McConkey.

The Navy quarterback was not done. After a daring fake punt from the Midshipmen worked, with defensive lineman Landon Robinson rumbling for a 29-yard gain to convert a 4th-and-5 situation, Horvath finished off the drive by plunging into the end zone from a yard out, giving Navy a 28-13 lead with just under nine minutes remaining:

Then after Daily threw his second interception of the game, Horvath ripped off another massive run, a 48-yard gain down to the Army 12-yard line with 6:23 left in the contest. With Navy nursing a 28-13 lead at that point, all that was left for Navy to do was to finish off the drive, and send the Midshipmen back to West Point with their second loss of the season, and one that would sting at that.

Navy put together one more scoring drive while working over three minutes off the clock, settling for a Nathan Kirkwood 27-yard field goal to push the score to 31-13, Navy.

For the Midshipmen it was their second win over a ranked opponent this season. The last time that Navy did that? That came back in 1958.

“Blake Horvath is a special young man,” said Navy head coach Brian Newberry in his post-game press conference. “He’s battled through some really difficult injuries this year, and we weren’t sure if he was going to be able to play in this game.

“Thought he played extremely well today ... overall I thought he was outstanding.”

As for Horvath, he finished the game having completed 4-of-9 passes for 107 and a pair of touchdowns, while adding another pair of touchdowns on the ground, and 204 rushing yards.

All while putting his name into not just the Navy record books, but school lore as well.