A blocked punt. An early Army lead. A suddenly aerial Navy attack. And a win streak in jeopardy.
Navy’s dormant offense woke up just in time to match Army’s early special-teams heroics Saturday in Baltimore, as quarterback Keenan Reynolds led the Mids on a six-play, 70-yard touchdown drive, tying the game at 7-7 with a 9-yard strike to Jamir Tillman just 18 seconds before the first half ended.
It saved the Mids (6-5) from entering the locker room down by a score thanks to Army sophomore Josh Jenkins, who blocked Pablo Beltran’s punt on Navy’s first offensive series. Xavier Moss scooped up the loose ball and scored for Army (4-7), giving the Black Knights a lead for most of a defense-dominated 30 minutes.
Navy didn’t manage a first down until early in the second quarter, and Army’s longest drive of the game, a 10-play march that took up nearly six minutes, ended with a failed fourth-down quarterback sneak on the Mids’ 30-yard line with about two minutes to play in the half.
Reynolds, who’d been held to three yards passing up to that point, fired a 39-yard strike to Tillman on the ensuing drive’s first play. He hit Ryan Williams-Jenkins for a first down two plays later, then capped the drive two plays after that with a well-placed ball to Tillman in the end zone.
The 60 passing yards on the drive were more than the Mids put up in their last entire game, a 42-40 win over South Alabama. Army’s passing line was more traditional Army-Navy fare: Three attempts, no completions.
Instead, the Black Knights have spread the ball-carrying duties, with four backs combining for 106 rushing yards. Larry Dixon’s 35 yards on eight tries leads the way for all rushers.
