– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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BALTIMORE — For all of his accomplishments on the football field, for which there are many, Navy senior quarterback Blake Horvath had one of the worst times in his career holding onto the football on Saturday, and it just happened to occur during the biggest game in his career to date.
It’s a good thing then that Horvath regained control of the pigskin just in the nick of time, which then allowed him and his Midshipmen to not loosen their grip of the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy.
Horvath threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Heidenreich with 6:32 remaining on fourth-and-goal as No. 22 Navy scored the final 10 points of the game to defeat Army 17-16, the Midshipmen’s second consecutive win over the Black Knights.
Heidenreich, the single-season and career leader in receiving yards in school history, caught six of Horvath’s seven completions on the afternoon, while the latter rushed for 107 yards on 34 carries and the Midshipmen’s other touchdown in the first quarter.
Heidenreich, the single-season and career leader in receiving yards in school history, caught six of Horvath’s seven completions on the afternoon, while the latter rushed for 107 yards on 34 carries and the Midshipmen’s other touchdown in the first quarter.
“Who wouldn’t go to him?” Horvath said about Heidenreich after the game. “Talk about an all-time Navy legend. You’re going to be talking about Eli Heidenreich for years and years and years.”
The lore of Heidenreich is sure to include his heroics two plays before his game-winning catch. On second-and-goal from the 1-yard line, Horvath fumbled the ball while trying the tush push. The ball squirted backward, where Army linebacker Eric Ford appeared ready to fall on the ball, but Navy running back Alex Tecza raced over to run into Ford and prevent the turnover. Heidenreich eventually fell on the ball back at the 8.
Two plays later, the Navy’s dynamic duo struck for the biggest touchdown on the season, one that officially clinched back-to-back 10-win seasons for the first time in Navy’s storied history.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday afternoon’s game, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Dale Horton. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 47 pictures in total.
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