Air Force Academy
1-4 , 0-3
Navy
5-0 , 3-0
Air Force Falls to Navy, 34-31
10/4/2025 2:28:00 PM | Football
ANNAPOLIS, Md., - Navy defeated Air Force, 34-31, to win the first game of the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy series. The Midshipmen had 517 total yards, including 339 passing. The game featured 977 total yards, as the Falcons managed 460 total yards, including 249 passing and 211 rushing.
Navy opened the scoring with a 39-yard field goal by Nathan Kirkwood, before Air Force scored 10 straight points to take a 10-3 lead. Liam Szarka scored on a seven-yard run while Jacob Medina added a 24-yard field goal. Navy answered back to tie it with the first of three Blake Horvath to Eli Heidenreich touchdown passes. The Midshipmen added another connection between the two to take a 17-10 halftime lead.
Air Force opened the third with another Szarka touchdown run to tie the score at 17-all. Following a Horvath TD run, the Falcons tied it again with a Szarka to Bruin Fleischmann touchdown pass to make it 24-all. Horvath and Heidenreich connected again to give Navy a 31-24 lead early in the fourth quarter before Szarka hit Jonah Dawson with a 53-yard touchdown pass to tie the game. Navy added a Kirkwood field goal with 6:47 left to take the lead for good. Air Force's final chance ended with a turnover near midfield.
Navy was led by Horvath, who posted 130 yards rushing and a touchdown while hitting 20-26 passes for 339 yards and three touchdowns. Eli Heidenreich had eight catches for 243 yards and three touchdowns. Air Force was led by Szarka, who hit 11-19 passes for 212 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 152 yards and two touchdowns. He is the first player in program history to have three straight games of 200 yards passing and 100 yards rushing. Fleischmann added six catches for 166 yards and a touchdown, all career highs.
Team Stats
AF 0, Nav 3
Nav - Kirkwood,Nathan 39 yd field goal 7 plays, 54 yards, TOP 03:32
AF 7, Nav 3
AF - Szarka,Liam 7 yd run (Medina,Jacob kick), 4 plays, 75 yards, TOP 02:08
AF 10, Nav 3
AF - Medina,Jacob 24 yd field goal 9 plays, 87 yards, TOP 04:39
AF 10, Nav 10
Nav - Heidenreich,Eli 19 yd pass from Horvath,Blake (Kirkwood,Nathan kick) 4 plays, 53 yards, TOP 01:35
AF 10, Nav 17
Nav - Heidenreich,Eli 80 yd pass from Horvath,Blake (Kirkwood,Nathan kick) 2 plays, 81 yards, TOP 00:46
AF 17, Nav 17
AF - Szarka,Liam 1 yd run (Medina,Jacob kick), 9 plays, 70 yards, TOP 05:02
AF 17, Nav 24
Nav - Horvath,Blake 59 yd run (Kirkwood,Nathan kick), 8 plays, 97 yards, TOP 04:05
AF 24, Nav 24
AF - Fleischmann,Bruin 18 yd pass from Szarka,Liam (Medina,Jacob kick) 11 plays, 75 yards, TOP 05:57
AF 24, Nav 31
Nav - Heidenreich,Eli 60 yd pass from Horvath,Blake (Kirkwood,Nathan kick) 4 plays, 71 yards, TOP 01:55
AF 31, Nav 31
AF - Dawson,Jonah 53 yd pass from Szarka,Liam (Medina,Jacob kick) 5 plays, 75 yards, TOP 01:56
AF 31, Nav 34
Nav - Kirkwood,Nathan 34 yd field goal 9 plays, 60 yards, TOP 04:05
