Army football prepped for solid challenge from UConn at Fenway Bowl
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In the military — and that includes being part of the Army football team — home for the holidays is not always an option.
But the extended family of the Black Knights is making the best of the situation over the Christmas holidays, to share joy and help their fellow man as a leadup to the Fenway Bowl matchup with Connecticut on Saturday, December 27. ESPN will have the telecast at 2:15 p.m.
In addition to workouts at nearby Boston College, the cadets have bonded once more on an extended road trip — for the final time in 2025 — and shared the sights of one of America’s most historic cities. The team got special tours of Fenway Park — home of the Boston Red Sox — and enjoyed a Boston Harbor cruise. The bowl committee presented the players with personalized engraved bats as a memento.
“I think it’s been amazing being here on the holidays,” said Army senior linebacker and co-captain Kalib Fortner during a Friday media session. “It’s not truly ideal to be away from your true family but you have family right here, and to be in this amazing city that’s hosting us, its been awesome.”
“These guys have had some free time, which is nice,” said Army head coach Jeff Monken during his Friday radio show. “They don’t get a whole lot of that during the school year so it’s nice for them to have some free time and walk around town and walk around this mall that’s connected to the hotel here. … It’s nice to be part of a team that really feels a sense of brotherhood like we do. These guys, they feel a sense of family, and I think they’ve really enjoyed the time together here.”
For nearly 25 seniors, this will be the last game of their football careers that probably got a start when they were youngsters. The 2022 and 2023 Army teams both finished 6-6 and last season Army was 12-2, so the Class of 2026 owns a 30-20 mark with one game to play.
“I’ve been reflecting a lot this past week,” said Army senior linebacker and co-captain Andon Thomas. “I’ve been playing this game for 15 years, and for it to be my last four quarters of football it’s kind of crazy, but all the guys kind of realize that.”
It’s been two weeks since Army (6-6) lost to Navy, 17-16, in their annual clash, in Baltimore. The Black Knights returned to practice right away, mixed in semester final exams and had an opportunity to get away for the holidays for a few days before gathering in Boston on Tuesday.
“Obviously, coming off that Navy game, (it was) not the outcome we wanted but the guys are hungry,” Thomas said. “We’re coming back for a 13th game and that’s an absolute blessing. The guys realize it’s our last game as a team together before they go on next year and do great things (but) it’s been a couple great weeks of practice. … We’re excited for this game.”
It’s critical that Army shakes off the Navy loss with the Fenway Bowl ahead.
“I think a big thing is you can’t let a team beat you twice,” Fortner said. “(There’s) a lot of emotion behind that Navy game and obviously we didn’t get the result we wanted. … We had a couple good weeks of preparation, good rest and recovery, and we’re ready to go and hopefully do enough to beat UConn. They’re a really good team, they’ve got great players, and we’re excited to play in this amazing venue and hopefully get a chance to beat a really good opponent.”
Junior quarterback Cale Hellums said the time off between games and the holidays came at a good time,
“We’ve had a good amount of days, a long break … we kind of treat it like a bye week, in a way,” he said. “My body feels good. I’m ready to go and I’m excited for the opportunity (Saturday).”
“We know it’s going to be a tremendous challenge,” Monken said. “(UConn has) a lot to play for, obviously: for a 10-win season and back-to-back bowl champions here in Fenway, So our guys know that there’s going to be a test. They know that we’re going to be challenged (Saturday). Athletically, those guys are very, very good and have a lot of weapons. But our guys are going to play hard, they’re going to play tough and we’re going to do the very best we can to play our brand of football and hope that’ll be good enough.”
kmcmillan@th-record.com
X / Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Army football makes final prep ahead of facing UConn at Fenway Bowl
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