The postseason has been good to Navy head football coach Brian Newberry. 

First, the former defensive coordinator captures the highly coveted Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy with his team’s 31-13 win over Army in Week 16.

Now the second-year head coach can add Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl Champion to his ever-growing resume as Navy defeated Oklahoma 21-20 in a thrilling comeback victory in front of a sellout crowd Friday afternoon in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Mids started the game slow, going down 14-0 in the first quarter. That’s when the “this isn’t going well” texts started pouring in. But when it comes to Navy football, you just gotta believe. And fans watched as the Midshipmen slowly pulled themselves up and out, scoring 21 unanswered points and capturing the lead with 4:34 left in the game. Oklahoma tried to make it interesting, managing to score a 10-yard touchdown from freshman quarterback Michael Hawkins to senior tight end Jake Roberts with six seconds left on the clock but Hawkins was sacked on the 2-point conversion try, courtesy of senior defensive end Justin Reed.

“To be down 14-0 and fight back, to scratch and claw, they’ve done it all year – I just couldn’t be more proud of our players, in particular our seniors who have been through alot, they’re fighters and I’m proud that these are the young men who are going to lead, serve as war fighters in our country,” said Coach Newberry.

Navy’s refusal to give up despite being down two scores early made Midshipmen everywhere proud, after all if you can’t run, then walk and if you can’t walk, then crawl. Luckily, Navy quarterback Blake Horavth was feeling footloose and fancy free – the junior from Ohio finished with 155 rushing yards off of 18 carries, including a 95-yard touchdown run that tied the game and broke the record for longest play from scrimmage in Navy history.

He had a little inspiration when it came to the record-setting run.

“I was an Ohio State fan,” said Horavth after the game. “When Ezekial Elliot went 85-yards to the heart of the south, I figured 95-yards to the heart of the south sounds pretty nice too.”

Horvath also went 7-12 for 92 yards in the air, targeting five receivers. Junior fullback Alex Tecza finished with 15 carries for 43 yards and a touchdown while junior running back Eli Heidenreich added four carries for 23 yards and two catches for 22 yards. Senior linebacker Colin Ramos led the defense with 12 total tackles while Reed (1), Kyle Jacob (1) and Griffen Willis (2) contributed four sacks. 

Oklahoma outgained Navy 433-318 on offense and converted 11-19 on third down compared to the Mids 4-13. The time of possession was split almost evenly. And the Sooners had 27 first downs while the Mids only registered 11. But there’s something to be said about working smarter, not harder and unfortunately for Oklahoma, a team like Navy does both. Like the 12-play, 7:32 chef’s kiss scoring drive with 4:32 left in the game. 

“That’s just Navy football,” exclaimed Reed.

And when Reed came for Hawkins on that 2-point attempt, like the whistle of a long, black train it was clear there was no more love in Oklahoma. 

Navy finished the season 10-3, only the sixth team in school history to win at least 10 games in a season (1905, 2004, 2009, 2015 and 2019). The Mids are now 2-0 against Oklahoma. 

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