Football Halted at Wake Forest

Saturday, September 20

Winston-Salem, N.C.

3:30 PM

Army West Point

1-2

Wake Forest

2-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Army

Wake Forest

Football Halted at Wake Forest

September 20, 2014 | Football

Box Score

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Army rushed for over 340 yards, but 10 unanswered points by Wake Forest in the second half helped the Demon Deacons edge the Black Knights, 24-21, on Saturday afternoon at BB&T Field.

Army (1-2) was led by the ground game of Angel Santiago and Larry Dixon. Santiago racked up 123 yards for his second-career 100-yard rushing game, while Dixon became the Academy's all-time leading rusher among fullbacks with 92 yards on the ground. Army threw the ball five times in the game. Joe Walker connected with Xavier Moss for a touchdown on his first collegiate toss.

Wake Forest (2-2) saw John Wolford throw for 238 yards and two touchdowns. He was 25-for-35 through the air and 64 of those yards were to Matt James on seven catches. Isaiah Robinson was the leader on the ground with 60 yards on 17 carries and a touchdown.

The Demon Deacons started the scoring with six minutes left in the opening quarter. Robinson darted around the left end, broke one tackle and found the end zone on a 15-yard touchdown rush. The first scoring drive took 1:41 off the clock and Wake Forest marched 74 yards in six plays.

The Black Knights answered on their next possession with Dixon diving in on a 5-yard run to pay dirt. Army went for it on fourth down early in the drive and it paid off as Dixon got the ball and picked up the one yard he needed to gain. Raymond Maples than scampered for 32 yards with Dixon laying a nice block on the outside. Terry Baggett followed that up with long run of his own, breaking two tackles to set up Army with a first-and-goal from the 5-yard line.

The scoring continued on Wake Forest's next drive with a third-down touchdown pass from Wolford to Cam Serigne and the Demon Deacons led 14-7 with 13:39 left in the half. The highlight of the drive came on a 36-yard hook up with E.J. Scott in the middle of the field on a play-action pass.

Santiago was the man on the next drive for the Black Knights as Army responded once again with a 74-yard drive in just over four minutes. The senior signal caller ran for 67 of the 74 yards, including a season-long 37-yard run down to the 12. Three plays later he took it in himself to tie the game at 14-14 with 9:26 left in the second quarter.

The defense was able to stop Wake Forest on its next possession with Jeremy Timpf blowing up a fourth down play in Wake Forest territory. He was untouched up the middle and forced a check-down throw from Wolford and the Demon Deacons turned the ball over on downs. On the next play, Dixon burst up the middle for a 32-yard pick up and then after a few healthy gains Army found itself inside the 10 with a first down. Following a couple of short gains it was 3rd-and-4 and head coach Jeff Monken went to the bag of tricks when Walker connected with Moss on a halfback pass. Walker's first collegiate pass was a floater to Moss in the corner of the end zone to give Army a 21-14 lead.

The Demon Deacons still had 2:14 on the clock to mount another drive. Linebacker Jeremy Timpf had other ideas as he took the ball off the finger tips of Devin Pike on a slant. The turnover resulted in a 40-yard field goal attempt from Grochowski, but he pushed it left on his first chance of the season and the score was 21-14 at the half.

Army had a golden opportunity to gain a two-touchdown lead and was deep in Wake Forest territory. However, the Demon Deacons pounced on a loose ball after a bad pitch by the Black Knights. They took advantage of the turnover and marched down the field to a first-and-goal situation. Army stood tall and pushed them back to force a short field goal, which cut the lead to 21-17 early in the fourth quarter.

The Demon Deacons got the ball back with over 10 minutes left in the game and took the 24-21 lead with an 11-play, 84-yard drive. Wolford hooked up with Scott in the middle of the end zone to give Wake Forest the advantage. Army fumbled on a 3rd-and-long and the Demon Deacons took over and ran the clock down to two seconds left in the game. The Black Knights' last effort was sniffed out by Wake Forest and they came away with the 24-21 win.

Army is back on the field next week at Yale beginning at 1 p.m. from historic Yale Bowl.