PHILADELPHIA — Momentum was on Army's side, even if history was not.
Quarterback Chris Carter's long completion to wide receiver Tyler Campbell had pushed the Cadets Black Knights into Navy territory with less than three minutes left, trailing by four points, 21-17.
Two plays later, with the clock ticking away, Army dipped into its playbook. Carter took a snap from under center and threw toward wide receiver DeAndre Bell, positioned 3 yards behind the line of scrimmage.
Bell paused a beat, stuttered his feet and lofted a pass toward Navy's goal line, either unaware or willfully ignorant of the defensive backs bracketing the throw's intended target. It was intercepted, eventually, caught by the second of two Navy defenders tracking the throw's trajectory.
"If it's not there, the plan was to tuck the ball and run," Army Coach Jeff Monken said. "It was just man vs. man; you get or I get it, and they went and got it."
Close, not but quite. The 14th year in a row of singing first, of trudging off the field while the rival Midshipmen scream, yell, hug, celebrate. But there were seconds of silence Saturday when it all seemed possible: Army could win. Navy could lose.
The pass went up. It seemed to hang in the air a long time.
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Football is just a game, except when it's not.
This is Army-Navy. The Game — or "America's Game," according to its sponsors. It's the last game for Army's seniors, with the Cadets' Black Knights' 18th losing season in 19 years ensured even before kickoff. Eleven senior classes in a row have failed to defeat Navy; this year's senior class lost three rivalry games by a touchdown or less.
"I'm 0-4 now against Navy," Army tight end Kelvin White said. "I went out there with as much confidence as I could have. The streak is 14 now, but the good thing for us is the 2016 team hasn't played them yet."
It's the penultimate game for Navy's senior class, which takes the field once more for the Military Bowl on Dec. 28, but that doesn't matter: This is Army, and when given two options — losing them all but beating Army or beating Army but losing the rest — Midshipmen on sea, air and land will take a one-win finish and hold their heads high.
All wins aren't created equal, though each is greeted with the same sense of satisfaction, glee, accomplishment and elation — it's just that some victories, as in the case of this rivalry, are remembered deep into history. But not all losses are the same. Everyone celebrates when they win; not everyone cries when they lose.
"I don't know what to say after a loss like that," Monken said. "It's incredibly disappointing for everybody involved."
No game should be more unimportant, in the grand scheme of things: Army and Navy don't make football players, but soldiers, sailors and pilots — though Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds was fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting, the highest finish for a service-academy player in more than 50 years.
The Army-Navy rivalry means more, perhaps because it means very little at all. In the competition for national championships and major bowls, this series hasn't registered in decades. Only twice in the past three decades have both teams entered the season finale with winning records. Every senior in this year's game will graduate next spring, many heading directly into combat.
Said Monken, "I can tell you this, the enemies those guys are going to face in about eight months … they're in trouble."
That's why it means more: Because it's just a game. In the pregame invocation, Army Chaplain Matthew Pawlikowski spoke of players "bristling on the brink of becoming soldiers."
"On these fields of friendly strife be strewn the seeds of victory," he continued.
Army-Navy is an escape. You only wish Army could win, just once.
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The Cadets Black Knights were the first to sing the alma mater, a funeral dirge afforded the loser of each year's meeting. Then came the cannons, and Navy players leaped into the first row of their section, grass-stained jerseys mixing with starched and ironed dress blues. One assistant coach said he was never worried; they'd been winning all year.
"At the end of the day it's all about wins and losses," Reynolds said. "Being here four years we've never lost to Army, that's huge. We'll get to visit the White House this year and get the (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy) back."
This was Navy's national championship. Players hugged players, players hugged coaches, all hugged their families. The celebration continued as Army players and coaches walked toward the tunnel, a few peeking glimpses back toward the south end zone but nearly all with eyes forward, most still wearing their helmets.
Friends and families lined the entryways to each team's locker room: Army's a solemn collection of wet-eyed mothers and fathers, Navy's a joyous mob. "Not 11, not 12, not 13," yelled one Navy player, rushing through the tunnel, "but 14, let's go!"
Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds breaks away for a long run and a 1st quarter touchdown during the Army Navy football game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA on December 12, 2015. (Alan Lessig/Staff)
Photo Credit: Alan Lessig/Staff
As Navy players celebrated — the unbeaten senior class the last to come off the field — Army gathered in an emotional locker room. I love you, Monken said to his team, and I'm proud of you. We will continue this fight. "We can be disappointed, but we aren't going to be discouraged," he said.
Maybe there's something to build on, even if the Cadets' Black Knights' two-win finish suggests otherwise. Army lost seven games by a touchdown or less. Two defeats came on last-second field goals by the opposition; another two came with Army holding the ball as time expired, one play away from victory.
Twenty-four freshmen were used in a loss to Rutgers on Nov. 21, and nearly as many against the Midshipmen. "We have young talent that is going into the offseason and won't be as young next year," junior linebacker Jeremy Timpf said. "I'm confident."
They'll play again next year, when the cycle renews itself for a new crop of plebes and seniors. It'll be the biggest game for everyone involved, at least until the next season's version. It might involve Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo, or it might not. The stakes will be the same: It'll mean everything yet nothing at all.
"We did our best," said Chris Carter, a true freshman making his second career start.
Win or lose, that's good enough. Army-Navy is just a game. It just feels like much more.
