Coaching for Pizza: The 124th Army-Navy Game

Saturday, December 9, 2023

The Usual Suspects gathered at Casa Contreras in Camarillo to watch THE College Football Game of the Day.

The 124th Edition of the Nation's Game

The Army-Navy game was first played in 1890 on "the Plain" at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, a 24-0 Navy victory.

Today's game was being played at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, the home of the New England Patriots.

This would be only the third time that the game would be played at a venue outside of the Mid-Atlantic states of Maryland, New York, New Jersey and New York.

The 1926 game was played at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois and saw the game end in a 21-21 tie.

The 1983 battle was contested at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Laurie and I were in attendance and witnessed the Navy 11 dismantle the Army team, 42-13.

The All-Time Series Record stood at

Navy 62 Wins - Army 54 Wins - 7 Ties

Army was 5-6 coming into the game

Army helmet decal honoring the

anonymous, prototypical

"Dogface Soldier"

Army's tan uniforms were worn in honor of the 20th anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Navy was also 5-6 before

facing their archrivals

The Navy's high tech helmet design

honored the Submarine Force, a.k.a.,

"The Silent Service"

I think Jacob may be

rooting for an Army victory

The Kickoff was scheduled for High Noon local time. We were ready and, of course, Jacob and Michael were primed in their Army gear purloined on our recent October trip to the Boston College at Army game.

An AMAZING interception by

Army DB Max DiDomenico

Talk about "High Pointing the Ball!"

Navy DB Kush'i Abraham running

down Army WR Casey Reynolds

Navy Fullback Alex Tecza fighting

for another yard of real estate

We were all hoping for a hard fought, intense rivalry game and were not disappointed in the least.

Navy's final play of the game with only three seconds left on the clock, ended in a Fourth and Goal QB Sneak that was stopped inches away from a potential game tying TD.

Army took an intentional safety out of the back of the End Zone to eat up those pesky final three ticks on the clock.

GREAT GAME!

The Series new standings are

Navy 62 Wins - Army 55 Wins - 7 Ties

Army finished the 2o23 record with a 6-6 record while Navy dropped to 5-7 on the campaign.

It is so much fun watching this annual game as the passion, pageantry and love of country are always on display when this stand alone game is played.

Oh, by the way, the Black Knights' win also meant that . . .

Army reclaimed the

Commander-in-Chief Trophy

This coveted trophy originated in 1972 and goes to the winner of the series of three annual games between the three major U.S. Military Academies of Air Force, Army and Navy.

If a team wins their two games against their service rivals they get to keep the CIC trophy for the next year.

If the three academies beat each other with none earning clear cut superiority, the last team to win the CIC trophy gets to keep the now shared award for another year.

Air Force has won the CIC Trophy 21 times.

Navy has brought home the CIC Trophy on 16 occasions.

Today, Army triumphed in this inter-service rivalry for the tenth time and thus got to celebrate doubly well.

The CIC Trophy has been shared only five times in 1974, 1976, 1980, 1993 and 2021.

We had fun watching Army

bring home the CIC Trophy

This will be upsetting news I'm sure to our good friend and retired U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Paul Sabolić.

I may have his rank wrong.

After the game, Jacob started to take a serious look at all of the Nike football cleats currently residing in our garage.

He tried a size 18 pair

He claimed that he said that he wore a size eight but I distinctly heard him say size 18.

In my opinion, he looked

good in those new cleats

By the time that the Army-Navy game was over, I had to make a decision.

My original plan was to drive back down to Pasadena City College to watch the 7:00 pm California State Championship Division 2-A Football Game between Los Gatos H.S. and Central Valley Christian H.S.

Michael and Jacob were not going to join me for the game as it was cold outside and we were in a fierce Santa Ana wind condition all day.

I opted to stay home.

15 State Championship Games

were contested this weekend

The letters next to each team's records below indicate which of the ten California Interscholastic Federation (C.I.F.) sections they represented.

These are the individual section's State Championships won this weekend:

North Coast Section (NCS) - 4

Southern Section (SS) - 4

Central Section (CS) - 2

Central Coast Section (CCS) - 2

San Joaquin Section (SJS) - 2

Northern Section (NS) - 1

Los Angeles City Section (LACS) - 0

Oakland Section (OS) - 0

San Diego Section (SDS) - 0

San Francisco Section (SFS) - 0

Here are the 2023 C.I.F. State Championship Game results:

Open Division

Mater Dei (13-1, SS) - 35

Serra (12-1, CCS) - 0

Division 1-AA

Mission Viejo (13-3, SS) - 35

De La Salle (11-3, NCS) - 14

Division 1-A

Folsom (13-2, SJS) - 21

St. Bonaventure (12-4, SS) - 19

Division 2-AA

La Serna (13-3, SS) - 21

Grant (12-3, SJS) - 19

Division 2-A

Central Valley Christian (15-1, CS) - 45

Los Gatos (12-3, CCS) - 42

Division 3-AA

Acalanes (11-4, NCS) - 35

Birmingham (12-3, LACS) - 23

Division 3-A

Marin Catholic (14-1, NCS) - 38

Mayfair (12-4, SS) - 18

Division 4-AA

Soquel (13-2, CCS) - 28

Jurupa Hills (9-7, SS) - 7

Division 4-A

Palma (11-4, CCS) - 42

Mission Oaks (10-6, CS) - 19

Division 5-AA

Ramona (11-5, SS) - 35

Pleasant Valley (10-4, NS) - 7

Division 5-A

Woodland Christian (15-0, SJS) - 23

Banning (9-7, LACS) - 13

Division 6-AA

St. Vincent de Paul (13-2, NCS) - 27

Wasco (9-6, CS) - 6

Division 6-A

Colusa (14-0, NS) - 33

Sweetwater (8-7, SDS) - 17

Division 7-AA

Ferndale (11-4, NCS) - 29

Fairfax (10-5, LACS) - 21

Division 7-A

Strathmore (12-4, CS) - 42

Bell Gardens (10-6, SS) - 7

In the evening, there was a major award being announced.

Probably the most iconic trophy

in American sports

The 86th Heisman Trophy

It has been given out annually by New York's Downtown Athletic Club to the player deemed to be the best college football player in the country.

The trophy is named after legendary college coach John W. Heisman who from 1892-1927 served as the Head Football Coach at Oberlin, Buchtel, Auburn, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Pennsylvania, Washington & Jefferson and Rice.

His overall record as a college head football coach was 186-70-18.

He is most famously (infamously?) remembered for coaching his 1916 Georgia Tech team to a 222-0 nail biting of a win over perhaps outmanned Cumberland College.