For the 126th time since they began playing on Nov. 29, 1890, Army and Navy have renewed their annual football rivalry and for the second year in a row, the Navy Midshipmen came out on top. Playing in front of an announced crowd of 70,936 at a sold out M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md., the Midshipmen edged past the Army West Point Black Knights 17-16 after a fourth quarter interception by Navy defensive back Phillip Hamilton set up a go ahead touchdown by Eli Heidenreich.
President Donald Trump, in his role as Commander-in-Chief, flipped the coin toss at midfield. Army West Point, as the visiting team, called “tails.” They won the toss and elected to defer to the second half.
The Black Knights kicker, Anderson Britton, booted the kickoff to the end zone for a touchback, giving the Navy Midshipmen the ball at the Navy 25-yard line to begin the opening drive.
Quarterback Blake Horvath took the first snap from scrimmage as a quarterback keeper up the middle for a seven-yard gain. It would set the tone for the game.
Horvath took the next snap up the middle for a gain of 14 yards. Running back Alex Tecza rushed to the right for no gain. Horvath rushed up the middle again for two yards. Then the Midshipman quarterback threw his first pass, an 11-yard strike to running back Eli Heidenreich to bring the ball near midfield.
Navy continued to run the ball as Horvath carried six more times for 29 yards, Tezca carried once for three yards and Heidenreich took one handoff for a nine-yard gain. The drive ended with a five-yard touchdown run by Horvath. Nathan Kirkwood’s extra point gave Navy a 7-0 lead with 7:16 left in the opening quarter. The drive took 13 plays, went 75 yards and consumed 7:44 off the clock.
It was now Army West Point’s ball starting at their 25-yard line. Like their opponent did, quarterback Cale Hellums took the first play up the middle for a gain of three yards. Running back Samari Howard rushed up the middle for three yards, and then Hellums took a quarterback keeper 26 yards along the left side into Navy territory.
Other than a seven-yard pass to wide receiver Brady Anderson, the Black Knights kept the ball on the ground. Hellums rushed five more times for 17 yards, running back Jake Rendina rushed once for four yards, Howard gained one yard on the ground, and running back Noah Short picked up two yards rushing. Army West Point was facing 2nd-and-goal at the Navy two-yard line when the first quarter came to a close.
On the first play of the second quarter, Hellums rushed up the middle for a two-yard touchdown. Dawson Jones kicked the extra point to tie the score 7-7 with 14:55 left until halftime. The drive took 13 plays, went 75 yards and took 7:21 off the clock.
The Midshipmen, however, faced their first struggle of the game. After three rushing plays on the next possession, they failed to convert a first down and were forced to punt. Army West Point took over at the Army 34-yard line with 12:37 left in the second quarter after the three-and-out.
The Black Knights continued with the rushing game since it worked well on their previous drive. Hellums rushed for four yards. Howard went up the middle for eight more. Short rushed left for two yards to bring the ball out near midfield. Hellums ran into his own offensive lineman while trying to run to the right and got stopped for no gain.
On 3rd-and-8 at the Army West Point 48-yard line, Hellums passed up the middle to Short who picked up 21 yards on the play. The quarterback rushed for 12 yards more to get to the Navy red zone.
Navy’s defense bent but didn’t break. Defensive tackle Griffen Willis broke through the line and hit Hellums in the backfield for a one-yard loss on a quarterback keeper to set up a 3rd-and-8. Hellums picked up six yards on the next play to make it 4th-and-2 at the Navy 11.
The Black Knights called timeout with 6:35 left in the quarter to make sure they had the play right. Hellums then took the snap to the right for a three yard quarterback keeper and a fresh set of downs. However, Navy kept Army West Point out of the end zone on the next three plays and the Black Knights settled for a 20-yard Dawson Jones field goal. After 14 plays, the Black Knights marched 63 yards in 8:52 and now led 10-7 with 3:45 left until halftime.
Running back Isaiah Bryant returned the kickoff to the Navy 22-yard line where the Midshipmen took over.
On the first play of this possession, Horvath was sacked by defensive lineman Jack Bousum and linebacker Eric Ford. He then ran up the middle for no gain forcing a 3rd-and-16 from the Navy 16-yard line.
Horvath hit Heidenreich deep across the middle for a pickup of 21 yards for the first down, which brought them to the two minute timeout. Heidenreich’s reception put him in first place all-time in single-season receiving yards with 837, past Rob Taylor’s mark of 818 set in 1967.
After the two-minute timeout Horvath hit Heidenreich for two more passes, six yards and 18-yard strikes respectively to advance the ball into Army West Point territory. Horvath rushed up the middle twice for six yards each, but on 2nd-and-10 at the Army West Point 27-yard line, the Navy quarterback fumbled at the Black Knights 34-yard line. It was recovered by Bousum at the Army 45-yard line for the turnover with just 20 seconds left until halftime.
The Black Knights wasted no time trying to get into scoring position. Hellums passed deep right to wide receiver Brady Anderson who immediately went out of bounds at the Navy 31-yard line. The next play was an incomplete pass intended for Short in the end zone. Hellums rushed to the left but only got three yards on the play resulting in Army West Point calling a timeout with two second left in order to bring on Jones to attempt a 45-yard field goal. His kick split the uprights and the Black Knights took a 13-7 lead into the locker room at the half.
The Black Knights opened the third quarter on their 25-yard line and Hellums immediately hit Short with a 29-yard pass to get to the Navy 46-yard line. Howard rushed up the middle for two yards but Hellums then threw incomplete intended for Short at the Navy 40. That brought up 3rd-and-8. A false start penalty on offensive lineman Will Jeffcoat pushed Army West Point back to midfield. Hellums threw incomplete again, this time intended for tight end Parker Poloskey. James Wagenseller came on for the Black Knights first punt of the day, a 38-yard boot to Brandon Chatman, who signaled fair catch at the Navy 11-yard line.
The Midshipmen started with a three yard rush up the middle from Alex Tecza. Horvath rushed up the middle for no gain. Horvath then threw deep left for Heidenreich, but it was intercepted at the Navy 32-yard line by Justin Weaver, who returned it to the end zone for a touchdown. However, upon further review, the interception was ruled good but the officials determined that his knee made contact with the ground and awarded possession to Army West Point at the 32-yard line.
Hellum rushed to the left for three yards. Howard rushed left for a five-yard loss as linebacker Luke Pirris pushed him out of bounds before he could turn the corner. Hellums gained four yards back on his next rush but it wasn’t anywhere close to a first down. Dawson Jones came back on for a 48-yard field goal attempt on 4th-and-8 from the Navy 30-yard line. The field goal was good and the Black Knights now led 16-7 with 9:39 left in the third quarter.
Horvath and the Midshipmen commenced their next drive from their 25-yard line, taking great pains to protect the ball. The quarterback ran quarterback keepers for the first three plays for gains of five, three and three yards respectively, before throwing an incomplete pass. Heidenreich rushed left for six yards. Horvath then took another quarterback keeper, this time for 37 yards up the middle before being brought down by Justin Weaver at the Army West Point 21-yard line, the only one preventing the quarterback from a sure touchdown.
Tezca rushed for three yards, and then Horvath rushed three times for a combined seven yards to make it 2nd-and-goal at the Army West Point 11-yard line. Horvath threw for Brandon Chatman, who dropped the pass at the line of scrimmage to make it third down. The quarterback scrambled up the middle for eight yards, but found himself three yards short of the end zone and fourth down. Instead of going for the touchdown, Nathan Kirkwood kicked a 21-yard field goal with 2:58 left in the third quarter to make the score 16-10 in favor of the Black Knights. Navy ran 13 plays for 72 yards in 6:41 on their scoring drive.
Army West Point began their possession at the 25-yard line and Hellums went to work with two quarterback keepers for seven yards. Offensive lineman Teddy Williams was hit with a false start penalty, which moved the sticks back five yards to bring up a 3rd-and-8 at the Army West Point 27-yard line. Hellums was sacked by defensive end Julien Moutome, who forced a fumble at the 25-yard line, where it was recovered by Teddy Williams. Wagenseller punted the ball away to Navy, who began the drive on their 24-yard line.
Horvath rushed to the left on a quarterback keeper for three yards to end the third quarter. In typical Army-Navy fashion, with one quarter left to play, it was still anybody’s ballgame.
After an eight yard pass completion to Heidenreich to bring the ball to the Navy 36-yard line, Horvath was sacked by Jack Bosum for a loss of 10 yards. Horvath rushed for four yards and then threw an incomplete pass. Navy punted it away and Army West Point took over on their 24-yard line.
Hellums rushed for one yard and then threw a pass deep right that was intercepted by defensive back Phillip Hamilton at midfield. The Midshipmen now had a major momentum swing in their direction at a crucial time.
Horvath passed over the middle to Braxton Woodson, the backup quarterback, for a 10-yard gain. He then rushed for five yards, which was wiped out by a false start penalty on the next play by wide receiver Luke Hutchison.
It was now running back Alex Tecza’s turn to shine. He rushed to the left for nine yards to bring up a 3rd-and-1 at the Army West Point 31-yard line. Horvath’s two-yard quarterback keeper picked up the first down. Tecza then rushed up the middle for 24-yards to the five-yard line and a fresh set of downs.
Horvath rushed left for four yards and was stopped just short of the goal line, confirmed by review. On the second play, the ball popped out as he was hit for a loss of seven yards, recovered by Heidenreich at the eight-yard line. On third down, Horvath threw incomplete intended for Tecza as Gavin Shields put the hurry on the quarterback to bring up fourth down.
Instead of kicking a field goal, this time the Midshipmen went for it. Horvath dropped back into the pocket and passed up the middle to Heidenreich for an eight-yard strike in the end zone for the touchdown. Kirkwood’s extra point gave Navy the 17-16 lead with 6:32 left in regulation.
The pressure was now on Hellums and the Black Knights to lead one more sustained drive to reclaim the lead and the victory, erase the sting of last year’s defeat, and bring the Commander in Chief’s trophy back to West Point. It’s what they had been working all year to accomplish.
Again, starting from their 25-yard line, they had 75-yards to go for the touchdown, but only 42 yards to get to the edge of Dawson Jones’s field goal range.
Hellums quarterback keeper was for no gain. On the next play, he passed incomplete to Noah Short and Samari Howard was called for holding on the play. This made it 2nd-and-20 at the Army West Point 15-yard line. Hellums scrambled up the middle for eight yards. Then he threw deep to Brady Anderson incomplete at the Navy 40. It was almost intercepted by safety Maxwell Williams. Now it was 4th-and-12 deep in their own territory and the Black Knights were forced to punt. Wagenseller kicked a 44-yard punt to Chatman at the Navy 33-yard line, who returned it five yards.
It was now up to the Midshipmen to use the last 4:50 to play keep away from Army and protect their one point lead. The Black Knights had two timeouts remaining and the two minute timeout to stop the clock.
Horvath rushed twice and Heidenreich carried once to pick up the first down. Navy was not in a hurry, burning valuable clock time. After Heidenreich’s first down, Tecza picked up a five-yard carry and the Black Knights used their second timeout with 2:29 left on the clock. Heidenreich rushed up the middle for two more yards and the Black Knights called their final timeout with 2:23 left.
All Navy needed was a first down. On 3rd-and-3, they almost blew it. Horvath rushed up the middle for no gain, but fumbled at the line of scrimmage, forced by inside linebacker Kalib Fortner. Horvath recovered the fumble and lunged forward to pick up extra yards. Initially he was given a first down, but the call was overturned on review. They ruled him down a yard short, making it fourth down. The clock stopped at the two minute timeout.
When play resumed, Tecza rushed left for two yards to pick up the first down. Horvath kneeled down on the next three plays to ice the game. The Midshipmen had won their second consecutive game against their archrivals and by virtue of their 34-31 win against Air Force on Oct. 4, will retain the Commander-in-Chiefs Trophy.
“I didn’t feel like a chippy game outside of the norm. Emotions are high. This is as fierce of a rivalry as there is, but there is a mutual respect – an overarching mutual respect that makes this rivalry a little different,” said Midshipmen head coach Brian Newberry. “We have been in this situation a bunch of times. This team, there was a psychological shift this year, going from a team that hoping to win to a team that expects to win. I think there is a lot to that. This team expects to win and goes out and finds a way. They believe in each other and trust each other. It is good that we have gone through these situations early in the season so there is no sense of panic.”
As far as the Commander-in-Chiefs Trophy is concerned, Newberry said, “It is where it belongs, right? Two years in a row. The biggest thing in our program is that it is process driven operation. You do everything you can to deserve victory. It doesn’t mean you always get it. It could’ve gone either way today. Regardless of the outcome today, I am proud as heck of these guys and this group and the season that we’ve had. I am happy as hell that we are keeping it in Annapolis!”
The Midshipmen were led by Blake Horvath’s 7-for-14 passing for 82 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He finished with a 108.5 passer rating. Eli Heidenreich led Navy with six receptions for 72 yards and one touchdown. Braxton Woodson hauled in one pass for 10 yards.
Horvath also led the Midshipmen with 34 rushes for 107 yards and one touchdown. Alex Tecza added nine rushes for 50 yards; Heidenreich carried five times for 28 yards and Brandon Chatman touched the ball once for a nine yard gain.
“The whole team doesn’t flinch. That’s our identity. Over the course of a season we can get can get punched in the face and take your losses and bounce back. That’s a testament to the leadership of this team,” said Horvath. “It goes back to our brotherhood. It is kind of insulting to hear other teams say their brotherhood when they bring in 20-30 guys in the portal, guys are leaving, guys are getting paid more than others. This team truly is a brotherhood from the plebes to the alumni.”
Coleman Cauley had 10 tackles and Maxwell Williams had seven to lead Navy. Julien Moutome had the team’s only sack. Moutome, Griffen Willis and Luke Pirris each had one tackle-for-loss.
“I’ll say all week we’ve been stressing land on top. That was our message that was written on the board. When we’re making tackles, we want to be driving guys the opposite direction. I don’t think in the first half we really stuck to that and got the job done, but obviously, second half coming into the locker room being able to regroup and get our mojo back,” said Navy defensive back Phillip Hamilton, who made a key interception in the third quarter. “I remember saying to the team, ‘let’s get our Memphis swagger back.’ Let’s carry ourselves like how we do, and the same way we came out against Memphis in the second half firing on all cylinders, I saw the same thing tonight.”
Army West Point was led by Cale Hellums 5-for-10 passing for 82 yards and one interception. He had a 98.9 passer rating. Noah Short pulled in three receptions for 51 yards while Brady Anderson caught two passes for 31 yards.
“This is a game that the competitors. I think the guys that are out there playing want to win
this game more than anybody that competes in anything wants to win a competition, a
contest. I mean, it is so hard-fought. So much pride, so much put into it,” said Army West Point head coach Jeff Monken. “It’s a 365-day-a-year rivalry, and it all culminates on one day and you just give it everything you’ve got. I think our guys gave it everything they got. Just didn’t make enough plays, and I feel terrible for them. For all of us. We put a lot into it. Congratulations to the other team.”
“It’s hard when you have all that emotion. You put so much into the game. It’s hard. I don’t think anything came of it [players meeting at the middle of the field at the end]. [It’s] just high emotion. That’s what it’s going to be. It’s the hardest fought game there is. Nobody wants to win the game, a game, any game more than the guys on the field today want to win that game,” Monken added.
Hellums rushed 25 times for 100 yards and one touchdown for the Black Knights. Samari Howard ran six times for 12 yards; Noah Short carried twice for four yards and Jake Rendina had one rush for four yards on the day.
“The second half just, they beat blocks. We didn’t sustain the blocks we needed to. We tried to run the ball. Threw some passes. Unfortunately, on that second down play, we didn’t step up and we got behind them, and he just got a little antsy. I’m not sure why and he flushed out, and then really wasn’t a very well-thought-out throw. Kid’s trying to make a play, and that turned into their last touchdown,” said Monken. “We didn’t do anything in the second half offensively to move the football and put ourselves in position, and that was disappointing. We got the three points. The field goal in the second half, again, you get down there, you got to find a way to get seven.”
Defensively, Collin Matteson and Andon Thomas paced Army West Point with 11 tackles each. Casey Larkin added 10. Matteson and Thomas each had one tackle for loss, Eric Ford is credited with 0.5 TFL and Jack Bousom is credited with 1.5 TFL. Bousom and Ford’s TFL’s were the team’s only sacks.
“[Bousom’s] had a really good season. He’s a first-year starter for us this year, and I’m really proud of him. He’s really developed. He’s a guy that has grown physically and just matured as a player, improved in his fundamentals,” said Monken. “He had an injury that kept him out all last year and so, for him to come back and have the season he’s had is really great to see. And I thought he played a really good football game tonight. Played hard. Made a couple big plays. I’m proud of him. I’m glad he’s going to come back.”
The 2025 regular season has now concluded and both teams have been named to their respective Bowl games for their final games of the year. The Army West Point Black Knights (6-6) will play the UConn Huskies (9-3) in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl at Boston’s Fenway Park at 2:15 p.m. ET on Dec. 27. On Jan. 2, 2026, the Navy Midshipmen (10-2) will play the Cincinnati Bearcats (7-5) in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl at 4:30 p.m. ET.
