Army stops Navy on goal line in final seconds for victory

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Army linebacker Kalib Fortner scored on a fourth-quarter strip sack and then stuffed quarterback Tai Lavatai six inches from the goal line with 3 seconds left to help the Black Knights beat Navy 17-11 Saturday and win the 124th meeting of the nation’s oldest service academies.

After falling behind 17-3, Lavatai led the Midshipmen to one touchdown to make it a one-score game and then drove them to the Army 6. With no timeouts and about 30 seconds left, Lavatai threw two incomplete passes before hitting Alex Tecza, who was tackled in bounds at the 2.

With no timeouts — and no opportunity to spike the ball on fourth down — Navy scrambled to line up and managed to get the play off. Lavatai surged forward as his whole team pushed — ahead of him and behind — but Army held its ground.

The play was whistled dead, and the replay confirmed the ball never crossed the goal line. To kill the remaining 3 seconds, Army quarterback Bryson Daily took a shotgun snap, hesitated and stepped out of the end zone for an intentional safety.

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Army Black Knights players run on the field prior to a game against the Navy Midshipmen at Gillette Stadium Dec. 9, 2023, in Foxborough, Mass.  (Edward Diller/Getty Images)

Cadets began to storm the field before being sent back for another review to see if time had expired. The confirmation from the booth set off another wave of Army fans onto the field.

Bryson Daily ran for 84 yards and threw Army’s first touchdown pass against Navy since 2015 to help the Black Knights claim bragging rights for the second straight year and the sixth time in eight tries.

Kanye Udoh ran