AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — A season of almosts continued for the Air Force Falcons on Saturday.
Dawson Jones made a game-winning 27-yard field goal on the final play of the game to give Army a 20-17 victory over Air Force at Falcon Stadium, sending the Falcons to 0-2 against their Commander-in-Chief rivals this season.
Army (4-4) has won seven of the last nine meetings with Air Force (2-6), including three in a row — its first three-game streak in the series since 1976-78.
And just like the Falcons’ 34-31 loss to Navy earlier in the season, this one came down to the waning minutes of the fourth quarter.
At Navy, it was a fumbled pitch with less than four minutes to go that allowed the Midshipmen to drain the clock. On Saturday, it was Army quarterback Cale Hellums finding Brady Anderson for a 42-yard pass with 24 seconds left to set up the game-winning score.
It was a wild final two minutes.
Hellums was stopped on a fourth-and-1 sneak deep in Army territory with 2:10 left. The Falcons took advantage of the great field position, and a pass interference call in the end zone, to tie it at 17-all on quarterback Liam Szarka’s 2-yard sneak with 1:26 left.
Hellums started the game-winning drive with a 10-yard pass and then Army ran it four straight plays. Hellums’ ninth pass attempt, and fifth completion, went to Anderson, who had run past the defense over the middle.
Hellums threw for 102 yards with a touchdown, and he carried it 26 times for 98 yards and another score. Briggs Bartosh added 74 yards rushing.
Szarka was 13-of-17 passing for 161 yards, but he was intercepted twice for Air Force, which also lost a fumble for a three-turnover game. The Grandview High School product also had two touchdowns on the ground and 91 yards.
Air Force had not scored a touchdown against Army in 32 straight possessions until Szarka’s 3-yard run midway through the third quarter to tie it at 10-all.
The loss dropped the Falcons to 1-3 in one-possession games this season. All four of those games have been decided by three points, and all four have come in succession, with the lone win coming last week against Wyoming, 24-21.
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