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Air Force beats Navy 14-9 to get jump on Commander-in-Chief's Trophy competition
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- Air Force beats Navy 14-9 to get jump on Commander-in-Chief's Trophy competition
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) — Liam Szarka rushed for two touchdowns and Air Force defeated Navy 14-9 on Saturday.
This was the opening game of the round-robin Commander-in-Chief's Trophy competition between Air Force (3-1), Navy (1-3) and Army. Air Force plays at Army Nov. 7 with the Midshipmen (1-3) taking on Army on Dec. 12 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Air Force has won the trophy 21 times — the last time in 2022 — Navy 18 and Army 10. Air Force leads its series with Navy 35-24.
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The Falcons never trailed with Szarka scoring on a 1-yard run to complete a 14-play, 65-yard drive that lasted nearly eight minutes. He added an 8-yard score in the final minute of the first half, set up by his fourth-down, 23-yard pass to Simon Kibbee on the previous play, for a 14-3 lead.
Navy's points came on a Nolan Bartley field goal and a 68-yard pass when Jackson Gutierrez found Truman Brasfield alone deep down the middle with seven minutes remaining in the third quarter. A failed 2-point conversion left Navy trailing by five.
The Midshipmen's final four possessions ended with a fumble then three drives for a combined 19 yards. They converted just 1 of 11 third downs for the game.
Szarka rushed for 81 yards and passed for 82 but was intercepted twice.
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Gutierrez thew for 140 yards and rushed for 33 more.
Defense secretary Pete Hegseth spoke to the Air Force cadets prior to attending the game.
Up next
Navy: home against Tulsa next Saturday.
Air Force: at Northern Illinois next Saturday.
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