ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Blake Horvath threw three touchdown passes to Eli Heidenreich, who set a pair of Navy records, and the Midshipmen outlasted Air Force 34-31 on Saturday.
The victory gives Navy (5-0) a leg up on holding on to the Commander-in-Chief's trophy, awarded to the winner of the round-robin between the Navy, Air Force and Army service academies.
Horvath was 20-of-26 passing for a career-high 339 yards and added another 130 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. Heidenreich, who came in with five catches this season, set a Navy record with 243 receiving yards on eight receptions including 19-, 80- and 60-yard touchdowns, giving him a program record 14 in his career.
On a day filled with big-play offense, it was Nathan Kirkwood's field goal with 6:47 remaining that gave Navy the lead. That was followed by a deflected pitch recovered by the Black Knights at midfield, allowing them to run out the clock.
Liam Szarka was 11-of-19 passing for 212 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a career-high 152 yards and two scores on 25 carries for the Falcons (1-4). Bruin Fleischmann had six catches for a career-high 166 yards and a score.
Two Heidenreich TD catches gave Navy a 17-10 halftime lead. Air Force came back three times to tie, including 31-all on Jonah Dawson's first career catch, a 53-yard touchdown.
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