ANNAPOLIS, Md.—The annual Navy football senior tribute took place on Sunday afternoon at Alumni Hall where several prestigious awards were handed out from the 2024 season.
 Navy's 23 seniors helped lead Navy to a memorable season as the Mids became just the sixth team in school history to win 10 games (10-3). Navy also won the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy with dominating performances over Air Force (34-7) and Army (31-13) and defeated Oklahoma 21-20 in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl.

 Junior quarterback Blake Horvath (Hilliard, Ohio) was named the winner of the E.E. "Rip" Miller Award, which is presented to the season's most valuable player as voted on by his teammates.  Horvath is the first quarterback to win the award since 2019 when Malcolm Perry won it.
 
Horvath, who was also named the Washington Metro College Player of the Year by the DC Touchdown Club, threw a school-record tying 13 touchdown passes on the year, tying Ricky Dobbs who threw 13 in 2010.
 
He accounted for 4 touchdowns in Navy's 31-13 victory over Army, rushing for 196 yards and 2 TDs on 24 carries, while throwing for 107 yards and 2 TDs.  He scored the game-tying touchdown against Oklahoma on a school-record 95-yard touchdown run and then gave Navy the lead on a 6-yard scoring run with 4:34 remaining.
 
Horvath, who finished with 1,246 yards rushing, is the first Navy player to rush for 1,000 yards in a season since 2019 when Perry rushed for 2,017 yards. He is the first Navy quarterback to surpass 1,000 passing yards in a season since 2019 when Perry threw for 1,084 yards.
 
Horvath's 1,353 passing yards are the most by a Navy player since Will Worth threw for 1,397 yards in 2016. Additionally, he is the third quarterback in school history to rush and pass for more than 1,200 yards in the same season, joining Keenan Reynolds in 2015 (1,203 pass, 1,373 rush) and Chris McCoy in 1997 (1,203 pass, 1,370 rush).

Horvath finished as the No. 9 graded runner (all positions, min. 150 att.) by Pro Football Focus.  Horvath and junior snipe Eli Heidenreich were named two of the Top 100 returning players in college football next year by College Football Network.
 
Senior safety Rayuan Lane III (Jessup, Md.) was the recipient of the Joe Bellino Award, which is presented to the varsity football player who's inspiring on-the-field performance made a significant impact on the team and contributed to its overall success during the season. This is the sixth time in the last seven years that a defensive player has won the award.
 
Lane, who was drafted in the sixth round yesterday by the Jacksonville Jaguars, finished his career with 244 tackles, eight tackles for a loss, 1.5 sacks, seven interceptions (returning two for a touchdown), broke up 21 passes, recovered three fumbles and forced eight fumbles. The Navy coaching staff believed Lane was also the best gunner on the punt team in the FBS.

Lane was named First-Team All-American Athletic Conference in 2024, while College Football Network named him the FBS Special Teams Player of the Year and a First-Team All-American on special teams, as well as an Honorable Mention All-American at safety.

Lane started the final 43 games of his college career, the longest streak in the FBS by a safety and the second longest by any player in the secondary.
 
Senior defensive end Justin Reed (Apex, N.C.) was named the winner of the Roger Staubach Award, which is presented to the varsity football player who demonstrated consistent, outstanding leadership and an "Expect to Win" attitude in contributing to the team's success during the season and embodied honor, courage and commitment on and off the playing field. This is the sixth-consecutive year a defensive player has won the award.
 
Reed was named Second-Team All-American Athletic Conference and was named to the Associated Press All-Bowl team for his performance in the Armed Forces Bowl. 
 
Reed started 12 of 13 games in 2024 and 23 games during his career.  He finished with 117 career tackles, 20.5 tackles for a loss, 11.5 sacks, recovered four fumbles, forced two fumbles and broke up two passes. 
 
Senior fullback Daba Fofana (Cumming, Ga.) was named the winner of the Napoleon McCallum Award, which is awarded to the football player with the most all-purpose yards (rushing, receiving, returns) in his four-year career.
 
Fofana also won the Jeffrey R. Korn Memorial Scholar-Athlete Award, which is given annually to the first classman on the team who has demonstrated excellence both in the classroom and on the football field. This is the third time in the last four years that an offensive player has won the award.
 
Fofana finished with 1,352 career all-purpose yards, 1,303 of those on the ground.  He rushed for a career-high 159 yards and three touchdowns against Tulsa his sophomore year.  Fofana carries a 3.59 grade-point average as a physics major and plays the cello. He received a service assignment of Medical Corps and was accepted into medical school at the Uniformed Services University, joining the Class of 2029.
 
Senior punter Riley Riethman (Keller, Texas) was named the winner of the Cmdr. Ralph Sentmann Award, which honors the member of the graduating class from the varsity football team who has achieved the highest ranking in academic order of merit. This is the second-straight year that a specialist has won the award.
 
Riethman was named a First-Team Academic All-American by College Sports Communicators. He is the 12th player in program history to garner first-team honors. Riethman maintains a 3.93 grade-point average as an aerospace engineering major.
 
Riethman was also a star on the field as he will graduate as the best punter in school history.  His 44.4 career punting average (226 punts, 10,037 yds) is the best in school history (min. 50 att.), while he owns four of the top-five single-game performances in Navy history.  Riethman finished sixth in the nation in punting average in 2024, averaging a school-record 45.7 yards per punt.
 
Senior safety Mbiti Williams (Snellville, Ga.) was named the winner of the Cooke Award, which is given to the player who has done the most to promote team spirit.
 
Williams started 34 games in his career, including each of his last 18 games.  He finished with 167 tackles, four interceptions, broke up 13 passes, recovered a fumble and forced a fumble.
 
Senior center Brent Self (Keller, Texas) was awarded the Outstanding Lineman Award, presented annually to a member of the graduating class who, as a football interior lineman, has excelled as a student-athlete and contributed to the overall team leadership and spirit.
 
Self was a starter the final 24 games of his career, playing both tackle and center.  He helped anchor an offensive line that completely dominated both Service Academy games and helped lead a Navy offense to its best season since 2019.
 
Senior linebacker Colin Ramos (Wayne, N.J.) was named the winner of the 1^st Lt. Ron Winchester Unsung Hero Award, which is presented to an unheralded senior recognized as an overachiever and role model as selected by a vote of his teammates. It is the third-consecutive year a defensive player has won the award.
 
A semifinalist for the Lombardi Award and a quarterfinalist for the Lott IMPACT Award, Ramos averaged 9.9 tackles per game, which was the 10th best mark in the FBS.  Ramos led Navy in tackles in 2024 with 129 after recording 110 in 2023. He is the first Navy player to record back-to-back 100-tackle seasons since Ross Pospisil in 2008 and '09. His 129 tackles this year are the most by a Navy player since 2013 when Cody Peterson recorded 142.  Ramos was named All-East in 2024, First-Team All-American Athletic Conference in 2023 and 2024, 2024 College Football Network Honorable Mention All-American and 2024 Phil Steele Honorable Mention All-American.  He finished his career with 327 tackles, 27.5 tackles for a loss, nine sacks, 6 forced fumbles and six pass breakups.
 
Freshman slot back Andre Gilbert Jr. (Tampa, Fla.) was named the winner of the Loree "Rip" Collins and "Arch" Roos Class of 1949 Junior Varsity Player of the Year Award as selected by a vote of his teammates.
 
A 2023 graduate of Jesuit High School in Tampa, Fla., Gilbert Jr. attended the Naval Academy Prep School during the 2023-24 academic year before coming to Navy last year. He was a two-sport athlete at Jesuit, who earned letters in football (4) and track & field (4). He was a member of the Jesuit football team that defeated Pine Forest 35-29 to claim the 2021 Florida Class 6A State Championship. It was just the second state title (1968) won by Jesuit and the first championship game appearance since 1992 as they finished 15-0.