Navy 30, Army 28
BALTIMORE — When he looks back on a season that began with 10 straight losses, Navy senior Chris Lepore will tap his selective memory to focus on the game that counted most.
"All I'm going to remember is we beat Army," said Lepore, who had an interception and a fumble recovery. "We wanted to go out on top."
Navy found the ideal way to end its perfectly awful season, taking advantage of five turnovers and getting a solid performance from Brian Broadwater in a dramatic 30-28 victory Saturday.
Looking for their first win since last year's Army-Navy game, the Midshipmen (1-10) built a 20-point lead late in the third quarter and held on to beat the bumbling Black Knights.
Navy lost the ball twice and had a field goal and a punt blocked. But the Midshipmen nevertheless won a second straight game in the series for the first time since 1982-83.
"It was almost like momentum got caught in the middle a couple of times and didn't know which way to go," Navy coach Charlie Weatherbie said.
Army (1-10) used two fourth-quarter touchdown passes by Curtis Zervic to cut the gap to 30-28 with 2:44 left, but an onside kick failed and Navy retained possession when the Black Knights were called for running into the kicker on a 43-yard field goal try with 1:29 to go.
Michael Wallace had 159 yards rushing and a touchdown for Army, which capped its worst season since going 0-10 in 1973.