When it was all said and done, Navy football could only bemoan the costly mistakes, untimely penalties and missed opportunities that loomed large in Saturday's 17-11 loss to archrival Army.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — When it happened, it certainly appeared that Kalib Fortner had made the defining and decisive play of the 124th Army-Navy Game.
Army’s inside linebacker came off the edge unblocked and put immediate pressure on Navy quarterback Tai Lavatai as he dropped back to pass on third-and-8 near midfield in the fourth quarter.
Lavatai stepped up in the pocket to elude Fortner but made the mistake of not tucking the ball away. He was holding the ball with one hand and arm outstretched so he could deliver a pass immediately after avoiding the sack.
Fortner saw the ball hanging loose like a ripe apple and alertly swatted it out of Lavatai’s grasp. Remarkably, the ball hit the artificial turf at Gillette Stadium and bounced right back up into Fortner’s arms. The 6-foot-1, 220-pound sophomore turned and sprinted 44 yards into the end zone to give Army a seemingly commanding 17-3 lead with 4:49 remaining in the game.
There was absolutely no reason to think Navy could rally from a two-touchdown deficit in such a short amount of time. The Midshipmen had managed only two sustained drives to that point and reached the red zone just once.
Navy’s best drive of the day, 12 plays and 70 yards, had come up short and resulted in a 37-yard field goal by kicker Nathan Kirkwood.
To their credit, the Midshipmen dug deep and came within inches of having a chance to tie the game in the final seconds. Lavatai got hot throwing the ball and directed two long drives, one of which produced a touchdown and another that finished less than a yard from doing so.
The Midshipmen ultimately lost, 17-11, but the heart and determination they showed in coming back could serve as a launch point going into the offseason.
Lavatai could have hung his head after committing the costly fumble that turned into a scoop-and-score. Instead, the senior never flinched and proceeded to complete nine passes over two drives down the stretch to give Navy a chance.
“We started to spread the ball out more, get it to the perimeter more and that’s something that seemed to work a little better,” Lavatai said. “They were in man coverage and sitting back a lot. I tried to get the ball to some playmakers on the edge and that seemed to help out in the second half.”
Navy moved 59 yards in seven plays and just over two minutes for a touchdown to cut the deficit to 17-9. Lavatai capped the drive by connecting with senior wide receiver Jayden Umbarger on three straight passes of 15, 14 and 14 yards.
A pump fake to the outside left Umbarger wide-open over the middle and he caught the ball and raced untouched into the end zone to complete a 14-yard scoring strike.
Coach Brian Newberry called for the 2-point conversion and a pass attempt was unsuccessful. Many in the press box and on social media were wondering why Newberry would go for 2 at that point. It did not come up in the postgame news conference because that decision had become irrelevant, but the answer is that he was playing to win, not to tie.
Army was only able to take 1:02 off the clock before having to punt on the ensuing possession. Navy got the ball back at its own 27-yard line with 1:08 remaining and remarkably went right down the field.
Lavatai made a huge play by delivering a strike over the middle to slotback Eli Heidenreich for a 28-yard gain that brought the ball to the Army 36. That was followed by successive completions of 9 yards to Heidenreich, 10 yards to Umbarger and 11 yards to slotback Brandon Chatman.
To the shock of the Army faithful in the crowd, Navy had first-and-goal from the 6. This game, which everyone at Gillette Stadium had figured was over, suddenly hung in the balance.
Facing third-and-goal, Lavatai completed a short swing pass to fullback Alex Tecza in the flat and it appeared he had a path to the goal line. However, Fortner once again made a critical play by reacting quickly and knocking Tecza off his feet at the 2.
With the clock at 15 seconds and ticking, the Midshipmen scrambled to get lined up as they had no timeouts and could not spike the ball since it was fourth down. It was an impossible situation, as there was no time to get a play called and signaled.
Lavatai took the snap and powered forward on a keeper and it immediately became a rugby scrum. A bunch of Midshipmen pushed from behind and it was impossible to tell among the massive pileup how far the quarterback got.
Officials determined that Lavatai went down at the 1, and that ruling was upheld by instant replay.
Lost amid the game-ending drama was the fact that Navy came within a fingertip of scoring on that last possession. Lavatai lofted a perfectly thrown pass that was dropping into the arms of Chatman while he was in full stride. Had he caught the ball, Chatman likely would have waltzed into the end zone.
Army free safety Max DiDomenico, who had made a clutch interception in the first quarter, barely got his outstretched hand on the ball to break up the pass.
When it was all said and done, Navy could only bemoan the costly mistakes, untimely penalties and missed opportunities that loomed large in the loss.
There were three more false start penalties, an inexplicable problem that has persisted throughout the season. All three spoiled promising drives with one leading directly to the defensive touchdown that ultimately provided the winning margin.
Navy had third-and-3 at the Army 43 and it was clearly two-down territory. A false start penalty on guard Ben Purvis turned a likely running down into a passing one, and that is when Lavatai got stripped.
Inside linebacker Colin Ramos recorded a career-high 16 tackles to spearhead a Navy defense that shut out Army in the second half. However, Ramos was responsible for a blatant blown assignment that enabled the Black Knights to score their only touchdown.
Army lined up in a tight formation with a heavy package and stealthily sent H-back Tyson Riley out wide. None of the Navy defenders noticed Riley standing alone along the sideline until it was too late.
Outside linebacker Eavan Gibbons finally spotted Riley and frantically pointed at him. Ramos, who was apparently responsible for covering the H-back, scrambled to recover just as the ball was snapped, but the pass was completed before he got there. Riley waltzed into the end zone for an easy touchdown that gave the Black Knights an early 7-0 lead.
Navy had a chance to strike first after stopping Army on downs just shy of midfield. Starting quarterback Xavier Arline led the Mids to a pair of first downs and they were within field goal range.
That drive came to an abrupt end after Arline basically threw the ball up for grabs. Wide receiver Cody Howard was surrounded by three defenders, but Arline tried to force the ball into the tight window and it became a jump ball that DiDomenico won for an interception.
“I always say the team that plays the hardest and makes the fewest mistakes wins these games,” Newberry said. “The mistakes we made were untimely. We didn’t play well enough to win the game. It seems like it’s been that way a decent amount this year. We’ve got to become a more disciplined team in a lot of ways, and that’s on me. I’m going to do everything I can do to get that fixed, for sure.”
There were some positives hidden within the devastating defeat. First and foremost, Lavatai deserves tremendous credit for coming off the bench to complete 16 of 26 passes for 176 yards and a touchdown. That marked the most passing yards for a Navy quarterback against Army since Ricky Dobbs threw for 186 in 2010.
Lavatai also rushed for a team-high 74 yards on 19 carries in his first action since Oct. 21. It was a pretty impressive performance considering he had missed the previous four games with a leg injury and only resumed practicing during the bye week.
Umbarger, who was a forgotten man all season, posted career-highs with six receptions for 75 yards. The Archbishop Spalding graduate came into the contest with just eight catches for 70 yards on the season. Why the team captain’s skills were not utilized the previous 11 games is a mystery.
Outside linebacker Luke Pirris continued his breakout sophomore season with nine tackles, including one for loss. Pirris was pressed into the starting lineup at the hybrid raider spot in the fifth game of the season and wound up leading the team with 10 tackles for loss while ranking fifth with 62 total tackles.
Cornerback Mbiti Williams had a big game with eight tackles and two pass breakups. Army isolated Williams one-on-one on two occasions and he was up to the challenge, maintaining close coverage then batting the ball away.
Gibbons also had nine tackles, while inside linebacker Will Harbour and tackle Clay Cromwell contributed eight apiece.
Navy finished with a 5-7 overall record and a 4-4 mark in the American Athletic Conference. One of the wins was against Wagner, a very weak Football Championship Subdivision program. All four conference victories were over teams that finished in the bottom half of the conference and with losing records.
A truly disappointing performance against Temple ultimately cost Navy a bowl berth. The Midshipmen lost, 32-18, to the Owls, who finished 3-9 overall and 1-7 in the AAC.
Clearly, there is still a ton of work to be done to get Navy football back to being a consistent winning program. Newberry closed out his news conference by vowing to do whatever it takes.
“Losing this game is going to be fuel for us going into the offseason. I can promise you that,” he said. “I’m going to work tirelessly to get this thing going in the right direction.”
