Navy tops Army 21-17 to win 14th straight in series

The streak carries on.

Behind a big game from star quarterback Keenan Reynolds and a tough defensive effort, Navy held off Army 21-17 for its 14th straight win in the series.

It wasn’t easy.

Army came in to Saturday’s game with only two wins, but the Black Knights battled all the way down to the wire. The Midshipmen led 21-17 entering the fourth quarter and Army had six different chances to take a lead, but were stopped by Navy each time. Three of those Army fourth quarter drives ended in turnovers while another culminated in a missed 29-yard field goal.

Despite Navy’s nine wins and Top 25 ranking, Army made it clear from the start that this game would be close.

The Black Knights, with freshman Chris Carter making his second career start at quarterback, struck first on a Daniel Grochowski field goal. Navy quickly responded when Reynolds, playing in his final Army-Navy game, broke off a 58-yard touchdown run – the 84th of his career, tying an all-time Division-I record (FBS and FCS) for career rushing touchdowns.

Carter got things going again for Army on its next possession. The freshman showed a veteran-like control of the option attack while also posing a threat with his arm. Carter pitched the ball at just the right time to spring Tyler Campbell loose for a 29-yard score that gave Army a 10-7 lead.

The teams traded punts after Army’s score, and then Reynolds went back to work. The senior broke off a 35-yard run before punching it in for another score – this time to set the all-time Division-I record and give the Midshipmen a 14-10 lead.

After Navy took the lead, Army’s defense stiffened and Carter hit Edgar Poe (five catches for 121 yards) behind the defense for a 39-yard touchdown, giving the Black Knights a surprising 17-14 lead at halftime.

Both teams moved the ball fairly easily in the first half, but the second half was a different story.

The first five drives of the second half ended with a punt. Navy then finally re-took the lead when Reynolds hit Jamir Tillman in stride for a 50-yard touchdown late in the third.

That ended up being the deciding score.

With the Navy defense putting the clamps on Army’s option attack, Black Knights coach Jeff Monken opted to go back to the air. Early in the fourth, Army twice moved deep into Navy territory, but had nothing to show for it on the scoreboard.

First, Grochowski missed a 29-yard field goal and Carter later fumbled on a botched QB-center exchange. Navy looked primed to run the clock out, but the Army defense forced the Midshipmen to punt.

Twice the Black Knights regained possession at its own 20 with under four minutes to go, but both drives ended in interceptions – one from Carter and another from DeAndre Bell on a wide receiver pass. Bell’s interception came after Army advanced past midfield, but the attempted trick play backfired as Navy’s Daiquan Thomasson made a leaping interception to seal the win.

With the win, Reynolds (113 yards passing, 136 yards rushing) became the only quarterback in the 116-year history of the Army-Navy game to win all four games played in the series. Additionally, Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo is now 8-0 against Army during his tenure with the Midshipmen. It may have been his last game in the series, as he confirmed that he will visit BYU on Monday about its head coach opening.

Navy now is 10-2 headed into its Military Bowl matchup against Pittsburgh while Army drops to 2-10.

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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!

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