Associated Press

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Navy quarterback Blake Horvath read the play perfectly and turned it into the longest in school history, a 95-yard touchdown run in the Armed Forces Bowl.

“From someone who’s not really that fast,” Horvath said after Friday’s 21-20 win over Oklahoma.

The Midshipmen (10-3) fell behind by two touchdowns less than 10 minutes into the game, but Horvath’s record-breaking run late in the third quarter tied the game at 14-1. He gave them the lead with a 6-yard TD with 4:34 left before the Navy defense stopped an Oklahoma 2-point conversion with six seconds left in the game.

“Probably overwhelmed by them,” Horvath said of the 95-yarder. “They showed some tendencies earlier, I just thought I could get a move.”

After faking a handoff on the read-option play, Horvath ran straight down the middle into the open field. Brandon Chatman fended off a pursuing defender around the Sooners 20.

When another defender, cornerback Woodi Washington, caught up and began to take him down, Horvath stretched the ball across the goal line – although he initially came up short before a replay led to the touchdown.

“Brandon Chatman actually broke his tail to get his butt on the field,” Horvath said. “I can see him busting his ass out of the corner of my eye. And honestly, without him and the blocking of the offensive line, it almost wouldn’t even be my touchdown.”

The Midshipmen’s longest play ever came during the Roger Staubach era, when Johnny Sai completed a 93-yard run against Duke in 1963.

Horvath also had a 90-yard TD run against Memphis, becoming only the second Navy player with two 90-yard runs in the same season. The other was quarterback Malcolm Perry in 2017, when he had runs of 92 and 91 yards.

“It’s a play that we know can go big, and it did, and it’s definitely exciting to see,” fullback Alex Tecza said. “I got tired of just chasing him. …It’s great. He does that all year round.”

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