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'A great leader for us': Hilliard Darby graduate Blake Horvath steers Navy to strong start
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- 'A great leader for us': Hilliard Darby graduate Blake Horvath steers Navy to strong start
In leading Navy's football team to a 6-0 start, former Hilliard Darby standout Blake Horvath has successfully juggled running a complex offense with fulfilling his academic and service responsibilities as a Naval Academy student.
The eyes of the nation will be on Horvath on Saturday when the No. 24 Midshipmen face No. 12 Notre Dame (6-1) at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The game is at noon and will be televised on ABC.
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After being named Navy's starting quarterback last October as a sophomore, Horvath was lost for the season after breaking the thumb on his non-throwing left hand against North Texas on Oct. 7.
But the 2022 Darby graduate , who did not see any action as a freshman, never lost faith during his recovery. After a solid spring, he has put up impressive numbers in Navy's new hybrid offense that combines elements of the wing-T, triple option and spread option.
"I've grown a lot in a lot of different ways," Horvath said. "The biggest way has just been as a leader of a college football team. It's a lot different than high school. I have to operate things. The biggest person that has shown me that is my quarterback coach, Ivin Jasper. He's sort of pulled me along and taught me a lot of things. ... It's been a journey, but I'm trying to just make the most of it and enjoy it."
Horvath has completed 46 of 72 passes for 888 yards and 10 touchdowns with one interception. He also has rushed for a team-best 621 yards and 10 TDs on 79 carries.
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His success has made him a midseason candidate for the Heisman Trophy, the award presented to the nation's top player .
"Blake has been a great player for us and has been a tremendous part of our success this year," Navy coach Brian Newberry said. "More importantly, he's just a great young man and he's everything that the Naval Academy values and embodies and is a great leader for us. He's a super smart kid, a great teammate. He inspires the guys around him and there's not enough good things to say about Blake."
Blake Horvath carries the ball against Hilliard Davidson in 2021. He set Hilliard Darby program records for rushing touchdowns in a season and career, career touchdowns and rushing yards in a season.
Hilliard Darby put Horvath on course for success at Navy
Horvath received an introduction to the Navy offense by guiding Darby's version of the wing-T. He set Darby program records for rushing touchdowns in a season (28) and career (49), career touchdowns (57) and rushing yards in a season (1,722).
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"That sort of established a level of comfortability in the offense," Horvath said. "A lot of times learning the option and different things, it's hard. It takes a lot of time, so being able to come in with already the baseline and the foundation of knowing how to operate in that system was great for me. The biggest thing that I had to do was grow as a passer."
Darby coach John Santagata was confident Horvath would excel at Navy.
"He understands the option component of what they're doing," Santagata said. "The inside veer, the midlines, the midline triples and the other under-center stuff, he has done (those things) since he was a seventh grader. What that has allowed them to do is take it to the next level and do some other schemes like in the shotgun to make the offense even more difficult to defend."
Horvath's experience and skill set have helped Navy score 44.8 points per game .
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"Blake has a really good ability to do the things we do under center, to read it and make the right reads and get the ball dealt," Newberry said. "Then he can get in the gun and be a pro-style quarterback as well. That's what makes him so good."
Navy quarterback Blake Horvath, a 2022 Hilliard Darby graduate, runs for a touchdown against Memphis on Sept. 21.
Family matters to Navy's Horvath
Horvath's parents, Alan and Laura, have attended numerous Navy games. Laura also has continued a tradition she began when her son played at Heritage Middle School, baking brownies, cookies and other treats for the team.
Her only request is offensive linemen get first dibs on the desserts.
"I just feel like the offensive line is the most important people on the team and they get little to no recognition for it," she said. "They're very selfless and I was just always – I'll make treats, but you always have to let your linemen go first and make them feel that they're the important people that they are."
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Blake Horvath showed off the baked goods during a Zoom call with media Wednesday.
"She's one of the greatest bakers I've ever met," he said. "I may be a little biased. She's done this for a long time because I've played quarterback my entire life, so when I stay healthy she wants to show her appreciation to the linemen."
Laura is also impressed with how her son has balanced his Naval Academy and football duties.
"He's a very determined person," she said. "If he has a goal, I've never really known him not to achieve that goal that he set in his mind."
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An operations research major, Horvath has a 3.53 GPA. He was a member of the National Honor Society at Darby.
Horvath is looking forward to the challenge of facing Notre Dame. His parents will be in attendance.
"It's really huge to be playing in a meaningful game against Notre Dame that has a lot of implications to go along with it," he said. "A big thing for coach Newberry and the team this year is we want to be relevant. You don't want to be another game that Notre Dame has to play, another game that anybody has to play. You want to be a game that is relevant within the national standing of college football, so we're really excited as a team."
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Navy QB Blake Horvath learned the ropes in Ohio high school football
