Army Completes Home Schedule Unbeaten

Saturday, November 11

West Point

12 PM

Army West Point

8-2

Duke

4-6

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Duke

Army West Point

Army Completes Home Schedule Unbeaten

November 11, 2017 | Football

Box Score Video Highlights

WEST POINT, N.Y. – After capturing a 21-16 victory over Duke on Saturday afternoon at Michie Stadium, the Army West Point football team completed its quest to go undefeated at home by finishing 6-0 at West Point.

Despite being held scoreless in the second half, the Black Knights were able to hold off the Blue Devils and improve to 8-2 overall on the season, while Duke dropped to 4-6.

On the offensive end, Ahmad Bradshaw led the rushing attack with 97 yards on 20 carries and a touchdown. Andy Davidson followed with 10 rushes for 64 yards. Darnell Woolfolk was the third Army rusher to accumulate double-digit carries and gained 53 yards on 16 attempts with a pair of scores.

Defensively, Cole Christiansen and James Nachtigal finished with 10 and nine tackles, respectively, while Alex Aukerman powered his way to seven stops. The Army defense filled the stat sheet, recording four sacks, five tackles for loss, seven pass breakups,a fumble recovery and a blocked punt for a touchdown.

Prior to the start of the game, 16 senior cadet-athletes were honored with a small ceremony for their dedication to the program over the last four years. John Trainor, Rhyan England, Bradshaw, Blake Wilson, Aukerman, Scott Washle, Bayle Wolf, Matt Sannella, Andrew McLean, John Voit, Bryce Holland, Joshua Boylan, Mike Houghton, Brett Toth, Jeff Ejekam and Jermaine Adams were all acknowledged.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

The Black Knights finished their home slate having won all six games this season.
Army is currently riding a six-game winning streak, dating back to a Sept. 30th victory over UTEP.
Woolfolk has scored a rushing touchdown in all five of Army's home games that he has appeared in.
Nachtigal recorded a sack for the third consecutive game.
Davidson blocked the second punt of his career in the second quarter.
Javhari Bourdeau scored his first collegiate touchdown following that blocked punt after he scooped it up from 25-yards out.
England recovered his third career fumble in that quarter as well.
Bradshaw tallied his team-best 10th touchdown of the season and 22nd of his career.
Bradshaw's 42-yard completion to Kell Walker tied a season-long.
The 42-yard catch was the longest of Walker's career.
Christiansen's 10 tackles tied his career best.
Elijah Riley recorded his fourth career interception and first career sack.
Army's last Veteran's Day win was a 29-26 victory over Boston College at West Point in 1978.

TURNING POINT

Holding a slim 7-3 lead entering the second quarter, the Blue Devils committed what turned out to be a costly intentional grounding penalty on third down after Voit charged into the backfield. With the ball on their own 21, the Blue Devils went to boot the ball down the field, but Davidson slid in front and blocked the punt before they could get the kick away. With the ball loose on the ground, Bourdeau picked it up at the 25-yard line and sprinted into the end zone untouched to put Army ahead, 14-3.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Army started with the ball and Walker took the opening kickoff 38 yards to the Black Knight 46. After three straight runs failed to produce a first down, Army went for it on fourth-and-two, but was stopped short and turned the ball over on downs.
With the ball near the 50-yard line, the Blue Devils used a balanced attack to trek inside the red zone. However, the Army defense managed to limit Duke to just three points after a 22-yard field goal went through the uprights.
The Black Knights countered Duke with a scoring drive of their own. Davidson accounted for 37 of the team's 80 yards on the drive that was capped off by a Woolfolk 3-yard scoring rush.
Buried inside their own 20 and facing a 4th-and-long situation after being called for intentional grounding, the Blue Devils were force to punt. The ball was snapped, but the punt never got off as Davidson charged in and blocked the kick, allowing Bourdeau enough time to scoop it up and scamper into the end zone for a touchdown to put Army ahead, 14-3.
Starting from their own 13 early in the second quarter, the Blue Devils worked their way into Army territory. After a pass interference call on a 3rd-and-7 by Army, Duke completed a 10-yard pass to the Army 33-yard line. But on the ensuing play, the visitors fumbled the handoff and England pounced on the ball for the turnover.
After two straight rushes, the Black Knights eyed a 3rd-and-9 scenario. On the third-down play, Bradshaw faked the handoff and found a streaking Walker down the left sideline for a 42-yard completion. It took two more plays for Army to tally its third score of the game as Bradshaw kept the ball and found the gap for an 18-yard rushing touchdown to increase Army's lead to 21-3.
Duke responded on the ensuing drive after leaning heavily on their quarterback. Daniel Jones compiled 35 yards through the air on four-of-five passes to go along with 22 yards on the ground. He finished off an 11-play, 86-yard drive with a 4-yard rushing score.
The Blue Devils began the second half with the ball but failed to generate much on their opening drive. Duke was fortunate enough though to get the ball back after Army fumbled on a pitch play during the next drive. Duke took advantage of its second chance by running the ball eight times and completing four passes prior to trimming the deficit to five at 21-16, on a rushing touchdown from 1-yard out by Brittain Brown.
In the fourth quarter, Army grinded out one of its longest drives of the season. Over 10 minutes ran off the clock during the Black Knights' 18-play drive that set them up in the red zone for a field goal. However, Wilson's attempt was blocked and Duke took over with 4:15 left to play.
Duke failed to pick up more than one first down and punted the ball back to Army. With 2:24 remaining, Army compiled a pair of first-down runs before winding down the clock to seal the 21-16 victory.