Air Force crushes Army, 31-3

  • Published
  • By John Van Winkle
  • U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFPN) --  Three Marchello Graddy fumble recoveries and three Joey Ashcroft field goals helped lead the Air Force Academy Falcons to its seventh victory of the season, beating the Army team 31-3.

“It’s a win we desperately needed. We hadn’t won a game in 28 days,” said Fisher DeBerry, Falcons head coach. “The last 28 days have stunk. We not used to going this long without a win.”

Yet the Falcons were their own worst enemy during the Nov. 8 game, DeBerry said. The Falcons stifled their 446-yard performance on offense with four fumbles, 11 penalties and were unable to get into the end zone on several possessions.

“I’m a little irked and disappointed that we were trying to kick field goals instead of finishing off drives with touchdowns,” DeBerry said. “Over the course of a game, that will catch up with you.”

While the Air Force defense was able to keep Army at bay, senior placekicker Ashcroft converted stalled drives into points with field goals from 59, 31 and 22 yards. That gave the Falcons time to get their fullback running game into gear, and then work the middle routes underneath Army’s soft pass defense for the victory.

For Graddy, Ashcroft and the other seniors, it also meant that they have never lost to Army, during their tenure at the academy.

The win increases the Falcons’ season record to 7-3. For Army, the loss drops them to 0-10 and ties a school record for losses dating back to 1973. The Army loss also extends the nation’s longest losing streak to 12 games.

“We want better for them,” DeBerry said. “There’s something special between the schools, because we’re always going to be hinged and hooked together. That’s why it bothers me.”

Army was in a position to win each of their last three games, so the potential to reverse their fortunes is within the team’s grasp, DeBerry said.

“It can be done," he said. "I’d like to see them win eight or nine games a year. I’ve got a deep place in my heart for them. Certainly we root for our other two service academies, except when we play them.”

The academy cadets and fans also voiced their hopes for Army success when that team plays the Navy Academy Dec. 6. It will take a victory by the winless West Point team to keep the well-coveted Commander in Chief trophy in Colorado.

That trophy is the top goal in Falcon football, and goes to the service academy football team that bests its military rivals. After a six-year chokehold on the title, the Falcons are in danger of losing the trophy after an uncharacteristic 28-25 loss to Navy earlier this season. So only a three-way tie forged by a Dec. 6 Army win over Navy can keep the trophy in Air Force hands.

“Anything can happen in service academy football,” DeBerry said. “If Army could beat Navy later this year, we would retain the Commander in Chief’s Trophy.”

Meanwhile, it is the make or break point of the season for the Falcons’ goals of winning the Mountain West Conference championship and going to a bowl game. Conference leader Utah (7-2) must lose to either Wyoming or Brigham Young (4-6), while the Falcons must win all of its remaining games and hope for some help from other teams, for the dust to settle in the Falcons’ favor.

“Wyoming is playing tough right now,” said Chance Harridge, Falcons quarterback. “I’m curious to see what they’re going to do with their opportunity against Utah.”

But Colorado State, University of Nevada at Las Vegas, San Diego State and New Mexico are still in the title hunt.

“Everyone controls their own destiny right now,” Harridge said. “We've got to go down to New Mexico and play our best game to have a chance at the conference title.”

A bowl game invitation is also uncertain. The eight-team conference has three bowl contracts, for games Dec. 24 in Las Vegas and Dec. 31 in San Francisco and Memphis. Utah, Air Force and New Mexico are all bowl-eligible at this point, but every other conference team is only one or two wins away from the same.

The Falcons’ schedule has only two games remaining, both against conference teams. Air Force plays New Mexico Nov. 15 and San Diego State Nov. 22.

“You ought to be playing your best football of the year in November,” DeBerry said, ”and that’s what it’s going to take.”