On senior day for the Navy football team, a junior quarterback came off the bench for an ailing, record-setting senior starter to deliver a swashbuckling performance in the fourth quarter, preserving a 41-38 upset win over No. 24 South Florida on Saturday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
Thanks to Braxton Woodson’s heroics down the stretch, highlighted by a 64-yard touchdown run with 3:59 to play, the Midshipmen (8-2, 6-1 American Conference) ended a two-game losing streak and defeated a ranked opponent for the first time this season to remain firmly in the mix for a spot in next month’s conference championship game.
Woodson finished with 103 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries in relief of Blake Horvath, who came out twice because of cramps. Horvath, the career passing efficiency leader in service academy history, missed last week’s 49-10 loss to Notre Dame because of an upper-body injury, with Woodson getting the start.
“I tell you, it’s nice when your first quarterback goes out and you feel really good about the next guy coming in, and I thought he was special today,” Navy Coach Brian Newberry said of Woodson. “I thought he was exceptional when he came in. Really, really proud of Braxton. Big things to come for that young man.”
Woodson’s final carry against the Bulls (7-3, 4-2) was his most rugged. He kept his legs churning for nine yards and a first down with defenders draped on him, draining precious time off the clock with less than two minutes to play. South Florida burned its timeouts, and the Mids were able to celebrate after the Bulls got one offensive snap in the final seconds.
Woodson came into the game early in the fourth quarter when Horvath stayed on the ground following an eight-yard run before walking gingerly to the sideline. Seven plays later, Woodson darted through an opening for a 20-yard touchdown that increased Navy’s lead to 34-24 with 9:29 to go.
“I just feel like in those moments, you just have to be ready,” said Woodson, who has 22 appearances in his career, including three starts. “I feel like I owe it to my teammates to always be ready in those moments. Blake goes down with a couple cramps, stuff like that, and just go in and do what I’ve been practicing all week.”
Horvath completed 8 of 15 passes for 147 yards and a touchdown, and he added 21 carries for 60 yards on the ground. Senior fullback Alex Tecza added a team-high 126 rushing yards on 12 carries as the country’s top-ranked rushing attack amassed 338 yards. Navy had 524 yards of total offense and owned an advantage in time of possession of more than 10 minutes to overcome seven penalties for 65 yards.
The defense did its part as well, making enough plays against the country’s No. 5 scoring offense. Cornerback Phillip Hamilton forced one of two South Florida turnovers with an interception of quarterback Byrum Brown, which led to kicker Nathan Kirkwood’s 44-yard field goal and a 24-9 lead late in the first half. The second turnover came on a desperate, lateral-filled play on the final snap of the game.
“We practice, I feel like, better than anybody in the country,” said Navy sophomore linebacker MarcAnthony Parker, who had 10 tackles. “We prepare the right way, so it’s just not flinching, staying poised.”
After a downpour moved through the area shortly before kickoff, Tecza wasted little time energizing the announced crowd of 34,856 that braved the elements. On Navy’s fifth play from scrimmage, Tecza took the handoff from Horvath, waited for a seal block and cut through daylight for a career-long 76-yard touchdown run.
It was the fourth run of his career covering at least 60 yards and represented the first time the Mids scored on their first possession since Sept. 27 against visiting Rice in a 21-13 win.
Two series later, Navy senior snipe Eli Heidenreich, a close friend of Tecza from their hometown of Pittsburgh, dazzled with a one-handed reception for 82 yards, a career long, to the South Florida 4. Heidenreich moved into first place in career receiving yards at Navy with that catch, his team-high 34th this year.
The one-handed grab by Heidenreich
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The play also produced a career-long completion for Horvath, adding to his lengthy list of accolades since becoming the full-time starter last year. Horvath’s throw reached Heidenreich in stride over the middle of the field despite safety Tavin Ward’s attempt to swat the ball away.
Snipe Brandon Chatman, one of 27 seniors who have been with Newberry since he took over in 2023, scored on the next play on a run around the right side to end the first quarter.
“I wasn’t worried,” Horvath said. “We’ve always said it’s about [all] the guys on our team, the [confidence] we have in every guy on the team, like Coach Newberry said. We go through the things we do in practice … to build trust in the team, and every guy does that, and Braxton does an exceptional job of that, so there was no worry in that game. We’ve seen what he can do.”
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