Navy blocks Air Force's effort to end series skid

To go with the pregame march-on of cadets and the postgame playing of alma maters, there's a new tradition in the Air Force-Navy series: The Midshipmen win, and the Falcons wonder what could have been.

On Saturday, in front of an announced crowd of 46,339 at Falcon Stadium, Navy defeated Air Force 33-27.

It was the Midshipmen's sixth straight victory in the teams' fiercely contested series and the fifth time in that stretch the game was decided by a touchdown or less.

And, like in previous years, it left the Falcons praising the Midshipmen but also blaming themselves.

"Knowing that we could have won, we should have won," Ty Paffett said. "It's going to be tough."

For the second straight season, the Falcons outgained Navy. Air Force limited the Midshipmen to 244 total yards - 171.2 below their season average - and gained 411. The Falcons also had 20 first downs to Navy's 13.

But, as has become customary in recent games, Navy made the bigger and more important plays and made the Falcons pay for their mistakes.

Navy blocked two Air Force punts - returning one for a touchdown and recovering the other in the end zone - and also recovered a pair of fumbles inside the Air Force 20-yard line, which led to a touchdown and a field goal. Air Force, meanwhile, was stopped on a fourth-and-goal try from the Navy 1-yard line, twice settled for field goals after driving inside the Navy 10-yard line and committed 10 penalties to Navy's three.

"Especially one of these games, you can't have a foot full of bullets," said Air Force coach Troy Calhoun, whose team fell to 3-2. "And when you fire into your own shoe, you don't win."

With the victory, Navy improved to 4-2 and assured the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy - given to the winner of the academies' round-robin - will not return to Air Force. First-year Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said his team was "lucky" to win. Calhoun, whose team hasn't won the trophy since 2002, disagreed.

"Not at all," he said. "You ask me, they were better than we were today."

Air Force dug holes for itself in both halves. The Falcons fell behind 10-0 inside the first 9 minutes thanks in part to the first blocked punt. Air Force rallied to go up 13-10, but Navy tied the score when Matt Harmon made a 48-yard field goal - one of his four on the day - as time ran out in the first half.

Then, on the first play of the second half, Reggie Rembert mishandled the kickoff and was swarmed at the Air Force 8-yard line. On the next play, quarterback Shea Smith could not handle the snap from center. Navy linebacker Ross Pospisil recovered the ball on the Falcons' 10, and three plays later, Navy quarterback Jarod Bryant scored to give Navy a 20-13 lead.

Air Force tied the game on its next possession when Smith hit Kyle Halderman for a 19-yard touchdown pass. But Navy kicked a field goal, turned a fumble into a field goal and then blocked another punt to take a 33-20 lead with 10:02 left.

The Falcons, led by freshman quarterback Tim Jefferson, drove 84 yards in 13 plays and scored with 2:32 left on a 2-yard run by freshman Asher Clark. Jefferson replaced Smith, who was sick and suffering from dizziness.

But after an onside kick failed, Navy fullback Eric Kettani picked up a first down on a fourth-and-1 call and the Midshipmen ran out the clock.

"It's tough," inside linebacker Ken Lamendola said. "We had our chances."