Football Falls To Duke at Michie Stadium

Saturday, October 10

West Point, N.Y.

12 PM ET

Army West Point

1-5

Duke

5-1 , 2-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Duke	10	17	3	14	44
Army West Point	0	0	3	0	3

Football Falls To Duke at Michie Stadium

October 10, 2015 | Football

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Duke built a 27-0 halftime lead and never looked back in an eventual 44-3 victory over the Army West Point football team on Saturday afternoon at Michie Stadium.

The Blue Devils scored 21 points off three Army turnovers and held the Black Knights to 168 yards of total offense. Thomas Sirk threw for 197 yards and a touchdown, while Jela Duncan and Parker Boehme each ran for two touchdowns. As a team, Duke gained 458 yards, led by Duncan's 77 on the ground and Anthony Nash's 57 receiving yards.

Army's leading rusher was Drue Harris, who gained 37 yards on four carries. A.J. Schurr, who started the game at quarterback ran for 27 yards before leaving the game in the first quarter.

After Duke took a 3-0 lead on a 40-yard field goal by Ross Martin on the first drive, the Blue Devils got the ball back by forcing Army into a three-and-out.

The Army defense responded and forced the Blue Devils to punt and the offense started its next drive inside the five-yard line. Fullback Aaron Kemper moved the chains with a four-yard burst out to the 15, then Schurr gained two yards on fourth-and-1 from the Army 24 to prolong the drive. Duke defense forced Army into another fourth-and-short situation before Ahmad Bradshaw entered the game under center. His pitch to the left to Joe Walker was met immediately by Duke's Deondre Singleton in the backfield and Duke ultimately took over on downs as the ball was recovered at Army's 15.

Four plays later, Duke pushed the lead to 10-0 when Sirk hit a wide-open Erich Schneider in the end zone.

Army's ensuing possession ended when Bradshaw fumbled the exchange with center Matt Hugenberg, giving the ball back to Duke at Army's 32-yard line. Two six-yard pickups on the ground by Sirk gave Duke a fresh set of downs, and on third-and-5, he hit Nash to set up a first-and-goal. Two plays later, Duke substituted Boehme in at quarterback and he took a shotgun snap in from three yards out as Duke's lead went to 17-0.

Following an Army punt, Sirk engineered a 72-yard touchdown drive that was capped by a 43-yard run by Duncan. Sirk had first-down completions of 10-yards to Nash and David Reeves prior to Duncan's TD. Midway through the second quarter, Duke had a 24-0 lead.

The Blue Devils tacked on a field goal late in the first half and took a 27-0 lead into the halftime locker room.

Army's offense put together a scoring drive to start the second half. The Black Knights marched 70 yards on 13 plays and capped the drive with a 22-yard Daniel Grochowski field goal. Bradshaw extended the possession when he gained three on fourth-and-short inside Army territory, then a 16-yard run by John Trainor moved the Black Knights across midfield. On second-and-8 at the Duke 41, Bradshaw gained 10 yards, prior to Drue Harris' 22-yard dash to set up first-and-goal. The Blue Devils held there, forcing Grochowski's kick.

Duke countered with a field-goal drive of its own, as Sirk threw the Blue Devils into the red zone. A third-down conversion to Reeves moved the ball out toward midfield, and two plays later he hit Max McCaffrey between two defenders with a 32-yard pitch-and-catch to the Army 23. Two plays after McCaffrey's grab, Reeves caught another pass for 11 yards to give Sirk and company a first-and-goal. From there, Army's defense held firm and Martin hit a 25-yard field goal.

Big plays helped Army move the ball into the red zone after Martin's field goal. A 32-yard run by Walker came before a 37-yard toss from Bradshaw to Kelvin White down the seam that set up first-and-goal from the two-yard line. Facing third-and-goal at the one, Bradshaw was stripped in the backfield by Dwyane Norman and the Blue Devils took over at the 17-yard line.

Duke marched 83-yards in 10 plays to boost the advantage to 37-3. Duncan had in a one-yard plunge to polish off the drive early in the fourth quarter.

Bradshaw was intercepted by Corbin McCarthy at the Army 30-yard line and three plays later, Boehme ran in a five-yard score as Duke went in front 44-3.

The Black Knights return to Michie Stadium next Saturday when they host Bucknell at noon. That game will be televised live on CBS Sports Network.