ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Air Force Falcons keep getting drawn into shootouts. And they keep coming up just short.
Such was the case again on Saturday, as Grandview High product Liam Szarka put up 364 total yards but still fell to Navy, 34-31, in an instant classic.
Szarka became the third college football quarterback in the last 11 years to top 200 yards passing and 100 rushing rushing in three straight games, joining current NFL stars Lamar Jackson (Louisville) and Dak Prescott (Mississippi State). The sophomore was 11-of-19 passing for 212 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a career-high 152 yards and two scores on 25 carries for Air Force.
But a deflected pitch on third-and-9 with 3:07 left proved fatal for Szarka and the Falcons, who dropped to 1-4 despite scoring 30 points or more in all five games this season.
Navy quarterback Blake Horvath threw three touchdown passes to Eli Heidenreich, who set a pair of Navy records, to keep the Midshipmen unbeaten at 5-0. The victory gives Navy a leg up on holding on to the Commander-in-Chief’s trophy, awarded to the winner of the round-robin between the Navy, Air Force and Army service academies.
Horvath was 20-of-26 passing for a career-high 339 yards and added another 130 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. Heidenreich, who came in with five catches this season, set a Navy record with 243 receiving yards on eight receptions, including 19-, 80- and 60-yard touchdowns, giving him a program record 14 in his career.
On a day filled with big-play offense, it was Nathan Kirkwood’s field goal with 6:47 remaining that gave Navy the lead. That was followed by the fumbled pitch recovered by the Midshipmen at midfield, allowing them to run out the clock.
Two Heidenreich TD catches gave Navy a 17-10 halftime lead. Navy came back three times to tie, including 31-all on Jonah Dawson’s first career catch, a 53-yard touchdown. Bruin Fleischmann had six catches for a career-high 166 yards and a score.
The Denver Post contributed to this report.
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