Navy wins Commander-in-Chief's Trophy and it stays in Annapolis for seventh straight year!

Naval Academy Alumni and friends gathered at the Fox Sports Grill in Atlantic Station on December 12th to out-cheer the attending West Pointers and watch Navy win the 110th meeting of Navy and Army on the gridiron. Navy has now won ten out of the last eleven games, and a record eight in a row!  This win extends Navy’s lead in the overall series record which now stands at Navy 54, Army 49, ties 7. Many thanks to Ples Bruce ’77 for organizing the event again this year and to his wife Kameelah for working check-in!
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates tossed the coin to start the game. Navy won the toss and we were underway.
The first half of the game was a worry maker for Navy as Army seemed to have devised a defensive plan that worked pretty well at stopping our usually successful running game. They came out with a 3-3-5 defensive lineup and used it throughout. Army missed a field goal in the first quarter, but then intercepted a Ricky Dobbs pass and got into our red zone. But the Navy defense held and they had to settle for a field goal.
The second quarter didn’t start off much better for Navy with Army recovering a fumble. Things looked like they would turn around quickly with a completed Ricky Dobbs 57-yard pass into Army’s red zone, but a questionable holding call negated the play. Later in the half another long pass was called back for holding as well. Half time arrived with Army leading 3 to 0.
Starting the third quarter the Navy offense looked like a different team. They took the opening kick-off and marched down the length of the field, finishing with a 25-yard touchdown pass. Navy 7 – Army 3. Later that quarter Navy added a field goal. Navy 10 – Army 3.
In the fourth quarter Army missed a field goal opportunity. Later Navy recovered a fumble on the Army 11 yard line. A Ricky Dobbs run took it to the 1 yard line. Two plays later Ricky Dobbs ran it in for a Navy touchdown, with coach Ken Niumatalolo kneeling on the sideline with hands over his eyes, unable to even watch. Navy 17 – Army 3. Army later marched down the field with successive passes to their 6 foot 10 inch receiver, but were unable to get into the end zone and missed a field goal attempt.
A shaky start for Navy, but another great win over Army, and a 9 win 4 loss season record for Navy.

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