Offenses Shine as Navy Outlasts Blazers 38-24
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – While Mother Nature delayed the victor, Navy’s defense rose to the challenge as the Midshipmen held UAB scoreless in the second half to come away with a 38-24 triumph on Sept. 6 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on the campus of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis.
Navy improved 2-0 on the season with the win, while the Blazers dropped to 1-1.
It was the American Athletic Conference opener for both teams.
The contest was delayed twice by inclement weather that rolled into the area in first half and caused a total of 2:06 in delays in a game that saw temperatures at 102 degrees at kickoff.
After an abbreviated halftime caused by the delays it was virtually all Navy as the Midshipmen blanked the visiting Blazers 14-0 to pull away for the victory.
Blake Horvath, Navy’s talented and versatile quarterback had given the Midshipmen the lead later in the third quarter just a short time after the second delay when he plunged in from four yards out with 2:33 remaining in the third quarter that put Navy in front 31-24 at the time.
Alex Tecza, the six-foot, 199-pound senior, bulled in from one-yard out with 2:55 remaining in the game to make it 38-24 and virtually seal the game for Navy.
Horvath’s first score came in the first quarter after Navy had elected to go on offense after winning the coin flip to start the game.
He capped the opening drive with a one-yard run that gave Navy a 7-0 lead with 12:36 remaining in the opening period after Nathan Kirkwood easily booted the conversion.
The Blazers wasted little time in responding when quarterback Jalen Kitna connected with Iverson Hooks over the middle before Hooks outran the Navy secondary for a touchdown that covered 51 yards. Jonah Delange’s PAT knotted the score at 7-7 with 9:41 left in the first period.
Navy regained the advantage later in the period when Eli Heidenreich ran in from nine yards out with 3:06 to give the Midshipmen a 14-7 lead after Kirkwood connected on the PAT for the second time in as many tries in the game.
The two teams combined for 27 points in the second period that seemed to match the fireworks Mother Nature provided.
The second quarter saw UAB tie the game when Kitna connected with Corri Milliner from 25 yards out to tie the game early in the period at 14-14 with 14:24 left in the period.
Less than two minutes later Horvath found a wide-open wide receiver Luke Hutchison from 63 yards out that put the Mids back in front 21-14 with 12:16 left in the half.
Hutchison had at least 12 yards between himself and the nearest defender when he caught the ball and simply outraced the UAB defense to the end zone.
The Blazer would tie the game again less than one minute later when Jevon Jacksons scampered in for 12 yards out and Delance converted to knot the game at 21-21 with 11:19 left in the first half.
Each team connected on field goals late in period with Kirkwood nailing a 27-yarder with 4:54 left in the quarter and
Delange hitting from 40 yards away as time expired in the first half to tie the contest 24-24 at the shortened intermission.
Jackson led the Blazers with 66 yards on the ground after carrying the ball 15 times,
Navy’s Alex Tecza led all rusher with 111 yards on 15 carries, while Horvath (18 carries) and Heidenreich (seven carries), finished with 82 and 67 yards respectively for the Midshipmen.
The showdown between what should be a battle for the top two quarterbacks in the AAC saw Kitna end the game with 304 yards through the air after completing 22 of 32 passes. Horvath, meanwhile, was more efficient after completing six of just eight passes for 168 yards, thanks in large part to the scoring strike to the wide-open Hutchison in the second period.
Pierre Royster, a free safety, led all tacklers in the game with 11 (4 solo) tackles for the Blazes while teammate Devin Hightower added 10 (2 solo) tackles in the contest.
Nose guard Landon Robinson paced Navy with 10 (2 solo) tackles while teammates Jeb Grote, Julien Moutome and Luke Piriss each tallied six tackles in the winning effort.
UAB, which defeated Alabama State 52-42 on Aug. 28 in the season opener, looks to rebound from the loss to Navy when the Blazers entertain Akron on Sept. 13 before traveling to take on Tennessee the following weekend.
The Midshipmen, who crushed VMI 52-7 in the season opener, are slated to travel to Tulsa on Sept. 13 to tangle with the Golden Hurricane.
1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UAB | 7 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Winner Navy | 14 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 38 |
UAB: Kitna,Jalen (304), Jackson,Jevon (66), Milliner,Corri (100)
Nav: Horvath,Blake (168), Tecza,Alex (111), Howard,Cody (65)
Date: 09/06/2025 Site: Annapolis, Maryland Stadium: Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Attendance: 28325 Kickoff Time: 03:39 PM End of Game: 08:56 PM Duration: 05:16 Temperature: 84 Wind: SE 15mph Weather: Sunny
| Qtr | Time | Scoring Play | UAB | Nav |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 12:36 | Nav – Horvath,Blake 1 yd run (Kirkwood,Nathan kick), 5 plays, 75 yards, TOP 02:24 | 0 | 7 |
| 1st | 09:41 | UAB – Hooks,Iverson 51 yd pass from Kitna,Jalen (Delange,Jonah kick) 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 02:55 | 7 | 7 |
| 1st | 03:06 | Nav – Heidenreich,Eli 9 yd run (Kirkwood,Nathan kick), 14 plays, 75 yards, TOP 06:35 | 7 | 14 |
| 2nd | 14:14 | UAB – Milliner,Corri 25 yd pass from Kitna,Jalen (Delange,Jonah kick) 8 plays, 65 yards, TOP 03:52 | 14 | 14 |
| 2nd | 12:16 | Nav – Hutchison,Luke 63 yd pass from Horvath,Blake (Kirkwood,Nathan kick) 4 plays, 74 yards, TOP 01:51 | 14 | 21 |
| 2nd | 11:19 | UAB – Jackson,Jevon 12 yd run (Delange,Jonah kick), 3 plays, 75 yards, TOP 00:57 | 21 | 21 |
| 2nd | 04:54 | Nav – Kirkwood,Nathan 27 yd field goal 10 plays, 65 yards, TOP 06:25 | 21 | 24 |
| 2nd | 00:00 | UAB – Delange,Jonah 40 yd field goal 11 plays, 70 yards, TOP 04:44 | 24 | 24 |
| 3rd | 04:12 | Nav – Horvath,Blake 4 yd run (Kirkwood,Nathan kick), 6 plays, 29 yards, TOP 02:23 | 24 | 31 |
| 4th | 14:57 | Nav – Tecza,Alex 1 yd run (Kirkwood,Nathan kick), 5 plays, 82 yards, TOP 02:55 | 24 | 38 |
| 24 | 38 |
A native of Bismarck, N.D., Ray is a graduate of North Dakota State University where he began studying athletic training and served as a student trainer for several Bison teams including swimming, wrestling and baseball and was a trainer at the 1979 NCAA national track and field championship meet at the University of Illinois. Ray later worked in the sports information office at NDSU. Following his graduation from NDSU he spent five years in the sports information office at Missouri Western State University and one year in the sports information at Georgia Tech. He has nearly 40 years of writing experience as a sports editor at several newspapers and has received numerous awards for his writing over the years. A noted sports historian, Ray is currently an assistant editor at Amateur Wrestling News.
