Colorado Springs, Colo.—Junior quarterback Blake Horvath rushed for 115 yards and two touchdowns while throwing for 134 yards, while junior snipe Eli Heidenreich rushed for 100 yards on six carries and caught five passes for 101 yards as Navy (5-0) dominated Air Force (1-4) from start to finish in a 34-7 win in front of a sellout crowd of 39,441 fans at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs.
The seven points allowed by the Navy defense was the fewest Navy has allowed in Colorado Springs, while the 34 points scored were the second most.
Navy took command on the second possession of the game as the Mids moved 87 yards on 10 plays capped off by a one-yard touchdown run by Blake Horvath. The Mids had four plays on the drive go for 10 yards or more, the big one being a beautiful throw and catch from Horvath to Brandon Chatman that took the ball down to the 1. Horvath would score two plays later.
The Navy defense got the ball right back to the offense on the next possession as senior corner Dashaun Peele intercepted Air Force quarterback JohnBusha and returned it 21 yards to the Air Force 41.
Facing fourth-and-three from the Air Force 34, Navy went for it and as Blake Horvath ran left the entire Air Force defense followed him. The problem with that was that Horvath pitched the ball to Nathan Kent going the other way and there was nobody around as Kent waltzed 34 yards into the end zone for a 14-0 Navy lead.
Air Force would cut the Navy lead to 7 at 14-7 as backup quarterback Tre Roberson came off the bench to lead a scoring drive that was capped off by a 45-yard touchdown pass to Quentin Hayes.
The Mids, however, would come right back as Horvath led an eight play, 79-yard scoring drive that took 4:17 off the clock as he capped it off with a two-yard touchdown run. The play of the drive was a 25-yard pass from Horvath to Heidenreich down to the Air Force four as Heidenreich made an incredible catch and toe tap for the completion.
Air Force got the ball to start the second half, but the Navy defense promptly forced a punt and then the offense took the heart out of the Falcons with a 14 play, 76-yard drive that took 6:20 off the clock. Alex Tecza finished the drive off with a 7-yard touchdown run to make the score 27-7.
Tecza would put the final nail in the Air Force coffin with a 12-yard touchdown run to give Navy the 34-7 win.
Navy piled up 463 yards of total offense, while holding the Falcons to 273. Navy had 329 yards rushing and 134 yards passing.
It was the first time since 2003 that Navy had two 100-yard rushers and a 100-yard receiver and Heidenreich is believed to be the first player in school history to rush for 100 yards and have 100 yards receiving in the same game.
Senior linebacker Kyle Jacob led the Navy defense with 10 tackles, while junior striker Jaxson Campbell added seven stops and two sacks. Senior defensive end Justin Reed added on seven tackles as well.
Navy has a bye next week before hosting Charlotte on Oct. 19 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. A win over Charlotte would clinch a bowl game for Navy for the first time since 2019.
The victory over Air Force today gives Navy a chance to win the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy on Dec. 14 when Navy plays Army in the annual Army-Navy Game presented by USAA in Landover, Md.
