Army football leans on strength, plays keep-away with Temple to hang on for victory
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College fans may be thrilled with high-scoring offenses, but Army football understands there are times when you have to grind out low-scoring wins, too.
In an American Conference tussle which allowed for only six offensive possessions for each team, Army earned a 14-13 win over Temple before a sellout crowd at West Point's Michie Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 8.
Down 10-7 at the break and following a stern halftime talk, Army scored on a 14-play, 75 yard drive to open the third quarter, which turned out to be the winning score. Junior quarterback Cale Hellums produced his 12th rushing score of the season from 3 yards out for a 14-10 lead. Hellums posted his fourth 100-plus yard effort, with 36 carries and 118 yards.
Temple drew to within a point on a 31-yard field goal by Carl Hardin on its next drive, but the Owls only got the ball back once more, and went three-and-out on that series. The Owls fell to 5-5. In the second half, Temple held the ball for only 7 minutes, 46 seconds.
It was a ragged start for both clubs, with Temple failing to score on its first two drives and Army on its first. But after Carl Hardin's 45-yard field goal try tailed to the right, the Black Knights mounted an 11-play scoring drive, finished when Jake Rendina followed the lead blocks of Samari Howard and Parker Polosky for a 7-yard score off the left side. Dawson Jones' PAT made it 7-0 with 11:19 left in the second quarter.
Evan Simon showed why he leads the American Conference with 22 passing touchdowns (one off the school record) with a deft 2-yard toss on a fourth-down call to Colin Chase, who had a step ahead of Colin Matteson and step in front of the Army 40 just inside the goal line — it was Simon's fourth completion on the drive.
Army drove just past midfield with the clock running under 40 seconds when Hellums was dropped for a 2-yard loss on fourth down at the Temple 44 as Jayvant Brown shot the gap for the stop.
Armed with three time outs and 26 seconds, Simon ran receivers on four well-planned routes into the secondary for completions and clock stoppages. Simon tried to find Peter Clarke in the end zone on a 6-yard pass with six seconds left but, for the second time to Clarke, the pass was high and off the receiver's hands. The clock confirmed stopped with one second and Hardin booted a 24-yard field goal for a 10-7 halftime lead.
Army football: Bowl berth draws closer
The victory pulls Army (5-4) within one win of postseason bowl eligibility with two games remaining. The Black Knights need to beat either Tulsa at home on Nov. 22 or Texas-San Antonio on the road on Nov. 29 in order to qualify.
Likewise, Temple (5-5) also needs just one victory to reach the postseason.
Up next
Army will be idle next weekend, and will close its home slate at Michie Stadium with a Nov. 22 noon start against Tulsa. The Black Knights will close the American Conference schedule on Saturday, Nov. 29 with a visit to the Alamodome to take on Texas-San Antonio — no time has been set yet for the game with the Roadrunners.
The regular season concludes with a Dec. 13 clash with Navy in Baltimore. At stake: the winner claims the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy.
kmcmillan@th-record.com
X / Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Army football moves closer to bowl eligibility with win over Temple
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