Midshipmen cage Falcons, 27-24

  • Published
  • By Wayne Amann
  • U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFPN) --  For 59 minutes and 59 seconds Air Force was back.

Its three-game losing streak appeared over. Its quest to regain the coveted Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy, symbolic of interservice football supremacy, was on track and its bowl chances were rekindled.

But, before the final tick expired, those expectations sailed away as Navy’s Joey Bullen drilled a 46-yard field goal rallying the Midshipmen to a dramatic 27-24 win over the Falcons at rainy Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Oct. 8 in Annapolis, Md.

Air Force led, 24-17, with 2 minutes and 22 seconds left in the game when sophomore slotback Reggie Campbell took a pitch around the left end, eluded a tackle and raced 40 yards for a touchdown. On the Falcons next possession, the fourth straight that stalled, punter Donny Heaton shanked a 9-yard punt that went out of bounds at the Air Force 35-yard line with 45 seconds left. Three plays later, Bullen’s boot gave Navy a leg up in its bid for a third straight Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy.

The Navy rally overshadowed another strong bluesuiter performance early in a game that went for naught. In all four Air Force losses, their opponents staged come-from-behind victories fueled by Falcon mistakes.

“We’ve been killing ourselves giving up big plays and that’s the key,” said Gilberto Perez, Air Force defensive end. “We’ve got to play to our level and not sink to theirs.”

A driving rain let up before kickoff and the Falcons (2-4, 1-3) used the wet field to their advantage.

Cornerback Carson Bird’s first career interception eventually led to Scott Eberle’s 20-yard field goal. Then, linebacker Aaron Shanor, who started his first game this season, recovered a muffed handoff. Three plays later quarterback Shaun Carney threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to halfback Chad Smith to give the Falcons a 10-0 lead after one quarter.

“You can’t expect to win off of what you do in the first half,” Shanor said. “That’s why the game’s four quarters, so you can finish.”

Midway through the second quarter, Navy safety Keenan Little picked off a Carney pass in the end zone. Karlos Whittaker capped the ensuing 16-play, 80-yard drive, with a 3-yard touchdown run, giving the Midshipmen new life with 1 minute and six seconds left in the second quarter. The march took a game-high 7 minutes and 41 seconds off the clock.

“That’s the nature of the option offense. You have to be patient with it,” said Fisher DeBerry, Air Force head coach. “They were able to utilize the clock. That’s exactly why we run it.”

Sixty seconds later, Carney rolled to his right and fired down the middle to a wide-open Greg Kirkwood for a 54-yard touchdown to re-establish Air Force’s 10-point cushion at halftime. Carney completed 6-of-9 passes for 111 yards.

Meanwhile, Owens completed 8-of-12 for 171 yards, including a 61-yard scoring strike to wide receiver Jason Tomlinson early in the third quarter that shaved the Air Force lead to three points. Tomlinson caught four balls for a game-high 114 yards.

Following a Navy punt, Falcon halfback Justin Handley found the end zone from 7 yards out, upping the ante to 24-14. Air Force’s luck ran out from there.

Four minutes later, a 20-yard Bullen field goal started a string of 13 unanswered Midshipmen points that sealed the Falcons fate.

Air Force still leads the all-time series over Navy, 25-13. The Midshipmen (2-2) have won the last three meetings, each by a field goal. It is their first three-game winning streak over the Falcons since 1977-‘79.

“I feel and bleed for our kids, particularly our seniors,” DeBerry said. “I wanted them to go out as winners against Navy. I told our kids I wish I had an answer. But, it’s the same old script, the same old story. We had the game under pretty good control with four minutes to go. It was a total team collapse.

“You can’t say we’re not playing exciting football,” he quipped. “We’re keeping people on the edge of their seats.”