AIR FORCE ACADEMY — OK, OK, Navy is the trophy team.
Navy fullback Eric Kettani said the key word Saturday for the Midshipmen was determination and it paid off in a 33-27 victory over gift-giving Air Force in a packed Falcon Stadium.
The Midshipmen took a giant step toward winning their sixth consecutive Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy with the help of two touchdowns off blocked punts and another after a third-quarter fumble by Air Force quarterback Shea Smith.
With a circus atmosphere that included 10 Air Force penalties for 75 yards, Navy clinched the victory with hard-nosed football, another example of its supremacy over Air Force the past six years. Navy kicker Matt Harmon scored 12 key points on field goals of 35, 48, 44 and 32 yards.
It was the bruising Kettani who got the call on a fourth-and-1 at the Air Force 34-yard line with 57 seconds left in the game.
“They plugged the middle really well, so I decided to go over the top and see if I could get it,” said Kettani, who rushed for 75 yards on 22 carries. “I knew if I got the first down, end of story. I saw their defensive line submarine. I didn’t know I had it while I was in the air, but when I came down, I knew.”
With Air Force (3-2) out of timeouts, the Midshipmen (4-2) ran out the clock.
Air Force freshman quarterback Tim Jefferson, who came in and moved the Falcons 84 yards to a touchdown to pull to 33-27, could only wish for the ball back as the Navy fullback landed across the first-down line.
“I know I wanted to get the ball back,” Jefferson said. “I thought he got stopped at first, but I saw the referee mark a first down. I was nervous at first, but my third series, I think I found a groove.”
Jefferson entered the game with 10:02 left when Smith had to leave because of flu symptoms that struck him at halftime.
“We got lucky, but we’ll take it, but we got lucky,” Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said. “That was a hard-fought game. We’re a team. We needed players to step up and make plays and some guys did. It’s not rocket science. We just went after the punts.”
Air Force coach Troy Calhoun didn’t agree with Niumatalolo’s assessment.
“Not at all, Navy was better than we were today,” Calhoun said. “You talk about handling adversity. Their top quarterback (Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada) goes down last week, and yet they’ve had two really good road wins. I want players who will flush this away and respond. We beat up on ourselves, too.”
On the other side, Navy quarterback Jarod Bryant survived early fumble problems and time on the sideline while injured, with 101 yards rushing.
Air Force could claim only a statistical advantage, outgaining the Midshipmen 411 yards to 244 yards and in first downs 20-13.
Besides the blocked punts, Navy’s defense played a major part. Although allowing Air Force to convert 3-of-5 fourth-down plays, including Smith’s 2-yard touchdown run that tied the score at 10 late in the first quarter, outside linebacker Ram Vela stopped receiver Ty Paffett’s fourth-down bid at the 1-yard line midway through the second quarter.
“We just left too many plays on the field,” Air Force safety Chris Thomas said.
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
Key stat
16: Average yards per punt for Air Force. Ryan Harrison punted three times; two were blocked for touchdowns. His lone good punt traveled 48 yards.
Key play
With Air Force threatening to break a tie at 10 with a touchdown, Navy defender Ram Vela caught Air Force’s Ty Paffett at the 1-yard line on fourth down early in the second quarter. The Falcons tried three plays at the middle before Paffett went wide on a reverse.
Irv Moss, The Denver Post
