Down 16-10 and facing second-and-goal from the 1-yard line in the fourth quarter against rival Army, Navy quarterback Blake Horvath fumbled while trying to sneak for a touchdown.
Black Knights outside linebacker Eric Ford briefly picked up the ball, but Midshipmen running back Alex Tecza knocked the ball out of Ford’s hands. Navy slot back Eli Heidenreich recovered the ball at the 8-yard line, saving the day for the Midshipmen.
“I thought we were good to go. We’re a yard away from scoring. We’re going to score a touchdown real quick, and then all the sudden I turn around and the ball’s on the ground,” Heidenreich said on Glenn Clark Radio Dec. 16. “I didn’t really realize at the time that Alex had hit it out like that and [Ford] had almost scooped and scored and ran it all the way back. I kind of realized that after watching the replay. During the moment, I didn’t really realize how close to disaster were really were.”
After an incomplete pass on third down, Navy head coach Brian Newberry was left with a decision as to whether kick a field goal to cut the deficit to three or try for a go-ahead touchdown on fourth-and-goal with 6:45 left in regulation.
Newberry chose the latter option.
“I did not know what we were going to do,” Heidenreich said. “I thought maybe we’d kick the field goal, but thinking about how much time was left and how their offense had been moving the ball, I think it would have been tough for us to get the ball back in that situation. I kind of had a gut feeling that’s what we were going to do.”
No one who followed the Mids this season was surprised to see Horvath target Heidenreich with the game on the line. Heidenreich, lined up in the slot to the right of Horvath, beat Army safety Casey Larkin inside and made the play. The Black Knights opted to use two linebackers as quarterback spies rather than drop one into coverage in the middle of the field.
“If you watch the play before, they played pretty much the exact same coverage,” Heidenreich said. “The safety who was covering me was playing extremely heavy outside leverage and trying to take away the corner route. You would assume with that leverage, they’d throw either the outside ‘backer or inside ‘backer underneath for some additional help, but they didn’t. It was just one-on-one man coverage. I had the inside route. It was not super tough.”
With the 17-16 win against Army, Navy finished the regular season 10-2 overall and clinched a second consecutive 10-win season for the first time in program history. The Mids will have a chance to tack another win on the board when they face Big 12 foe Cincinnati in the Liberty Bowl on Jan. 2.
Heidenreich is Navy’s record-holder in single-season receiving yards (877) and career receiving yards (1,930). Now, the 6-foot, 206-pound slot back has other ideas for his final game with the Mids.
“I’ve been joking with our safeties coach for the last two years about putting me in for a play at safety, so who knows?” Heidenreich said. “Maybe I’ll get one play at safety, going back to my high school football days. It’d be funny. We’ll see. That would be enjoyable.”
Heidenreich earned an invitation to the East-West Shrine Bowl in Frisco, Texas, in late January, a prestigious showcase for NFL prospects. Former Navy safety Rayuan Lane was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in April, and now Heidenreich and nose guard Landon Robinson have a chance to join Lane in the NFL.
Heidenreich will graduate from the Naval Academy in the spring with a Marine Ground service selection, but he’ll have the chance to pursue his NFL dream.
“I’m just super grateful to even have the chance to go out and show my skill set and hear back if people think I’m good enough to play in the NFL,” Heidenreich said. “I think that that’s super cool, something that I’ve been dreaming of since I was a kid. I think any kid playing football growing up is like, ‘I’m going to be in the NFL when I’m older.’ It’s crazy to think that I’ll have at least the opportunity to go out and hopefully do that. I’m super grateful for it.”
Heidenreich is a Pittsburgh native, so how about the Steelers?
“I’d be happy anywhere,” he said.
See Also: Glenn Clark: Not Everyone Gets Army-Navy, But The Rest Of Us Know Better
For more from Heidenreich, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox