Skip to main content
Navy

Horvath and Heidenreich make history as Mids outlast Air Force

by: Mike James10/05/25navybirddog
NCAA Football: Air Force at Navy
Oct 4, 2025; Annapolis, Maryland, USA; Navy Midshipmen wide receiver Eli Heidenreich (22) runs by a diving Air Force Falcons defensive back Houston Hendrix (19) for a first half touchdown at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

The last time Navy and Air Force faced each other in Annapolis, offense was hard to come by. This time, the two teams traded haymakers in one of the most explosive games the rivalry has ever seen. When the dust settled, the Midshipmen had a 34–31 win and a 5–0 record to show for it.

Senior quarterback Blake Horvath set a school record with 469 yards of total offense, throwing for 339 yards and three touchdowns, all to Eli Heidenreich. Heidenreich finished with a school-record 243 receiving yards and tied the single-game mark with three touchdown catches. Horvath also ran for 130 and a score, and Navy has topped 450 total yards in each of its five games this season, the first time in program history.

The two teams went back and forth for four quarters, matching each other score for score until late in the fourth. With the game tied at 31, Nathan Kirkwood capped a nine-play drive with a 34-yard field goal to give Navy the lead. On Air Force’s next possession, Jaxson Campbell blew up an option pitch, and Landon Robinson caught the deflection for a game-saving turnover that allowed the Mids to run out the clock.

The win was Navy’s eighth straight dating back to last season and its first set of back-to-back victories over Air Force since 2013. It also gave the Mids the inside track in the race to retain the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, which they can clinch with a win over Army in December.

Key Performers

  • Blake Horvath, QB (Navy): 20-of-26 passing, 339 yards, 3 TDs; 17 rushes, 130 yards, 1 TD; 469 total yards (school record)
  • Eli Heidenreich, WR (Navy): 8 receptions, 243 yards, 3 TDs — broke single-game and career TD reception records
  • Landon Robinson, NG (Navy): 7 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1.5 TFL, game-sealing fumble recovery
  • Luke Pirris, OLB (Navy): Career-high 12 tackles, 0.5 TFL
  • Nathan Kirkwood, K (Navy): 2-for-2 FG (39, 34), including game-winner with 6:47 left
  • Liam Szarka, QB (Air Force): 25 carries, 152 yards, 2 rushing TDs; 11-of-19 passing, 212 yards, 2 TDs

Quotable

Brian Newberry:
“They’re tough, they’re resilient, they expect to win. They believe they’re going to win, and so they find ways to win. That’s a corner we’ve turned and I’m proud of that.”

Blake Horvath
“I didn’t feel like I earned all those yards. It was just [Eli] running all the way. We knew there was a weakness, their secondary, and we knew we could exploit it, especially with one of the best athletes in college football in Eli Heidenreich.”

Eli Heidenreich
“We call [Coach Cronic] an evil scientist sometimes. He’s thinking about stuff and finding ways for me to get open, and a lot of the time it makes it really easy for me.”

Landon Robinson
“I see the ball get tipped up in the air and I was like, maybe I can grab it. I just kept running and put my arms out and I’m pretty sure I caught it in the air. It was awesome seeing the ball up there and finally get that takeaway we needed.”

You may also like