Army Touchdown by Darnell Woolfolk in 38-14 Win Over Liberty

Army Gets in Gear With 38-14 win in Home Opener Against Liberty

by John Chuhran

Highland Falls, N.Y. -- After suffering a 20-point loss against Duke last Friday to open its 2018 football season, the players and coaches of Army knew they had to do better in the team's second game against Liberty. The cadets did.



Emphasizing fundamentals like ball protection(no fumbles, no interceptions compared to three turnovers by Liberty), focus on rushing (449 yards on the ground with four rushers with over 70 yards each) and controlling the clock (Army had possession for 41:30 of the 60 :00), Army (1-1) scored 14 points in the first quarter and held off a third quarter challenge to claim a 38-14 victory over the Flames in the 2018 home opener before 25,133 fans at Michie Stadium.



Saturday afternoon's game against Liberty (1-1) was close to a must-win game for Army. With the next two contests against Hawaii (which averaged 569.5 total offensive yards per game in the Rainbow warriors first two victories, including a 59-41 demolition of Navy) and perpetual national championship contender Ohio State, a loss to the Flames would have put the Black Knights in a spiral that might have left them 0-4 to start the year.



As the third quarter began with Army leading 17-0, the game took an explosive turn as passing -- usually an afterthought in Army games -- took center stage. Army began on its own 25 and Calen Holt ripped a 22-yard gain on the first play while Fred Cooper followed with a 9-yard charge. Then quarterback Kelvin Hopkins Jr., who has a strong and accurate throwing arm, found Christian Hayes with a 44-yard touchdown strike to build the Army lead to 24-0. Hopkins finished with two completions for 61 yards and 59 yards rushing as he settles in as Army's starting quarterback.



Liberty followed with its own passing display. After Kentory Mathews (81 yards rushing) charged 50 yards on the first play from scrimmage, Stephen Calvert (19-for-37 passing for 307 yards) found Damian King (172 yards on 8 receptions) for a 28-yard touchdown. After the next Army drive stalled, Calvert engineered his best drive of the day -- a 13-play, 85-yard scoring drive that integrated six runs with seven pass attempts (five completions of 12 yard to Mathews, 8 yards to King, 21 yards to Antonio Gandy-Golden, 9 yards to Mathews, and 28 yards to B.J. Farrow for the score) to make the score 24-14.



Army bounced back with a 10-play, yard scoring drive of its own. Knowing time was an ally, Hopkins called all running plays and the clock kept ticking. By the time Darnell Woolfolk (Army's leading runner with 98 yards on 17 carries) punched in from the Liberty 2 to make it 31-14, there was just 11:47 left in the game. When Calvert attempted a pass on the first play from scrimmage, Army's Jaylon McClinton intercepted it and the game was effectively over. Hopkins then led a 9-play, 51-yard drive that ended the scoring when Connor Slomka pushed in from the Liberty 2 to make it 38-14.



At the start, both teams lacked consistency. From the opening Army kickoff, the two teams struggled to put together enough effective plays in their first three drives, but on the fourth series Army quarterback Hopkins directed an eight-play, 81-yard, all-rushing march that lasted 4:09 and culminated with Holt dashing 25 yards into the end zone.



Liberty failed to gain a first down on the series after the kickoff, forcing the Flames to punt, but Aidan Alves was called for targeting and ejected on the ensuing punt, giving the Black Knights a first-and-10 on the Liberty 31. Hopkins pitched to Walker on the first play, gaining five yards, and then Woolfolk broke through to dash 25 yards and score on the next play as the Army lead increased to 14-0.



Neither team scored on the first five drives of the second quarter, but Liberty head coach Turner Gill showed why he is 11 games under .500 in 13 years as a college head coach, He foolishly decided to gamble with 3:37 left in the half in a fourth-and-1 situation on the Liberty 43. He lost. Gill called for a Liberty running play, but Black Knights defenders Elijah Riley and Javhari Bourdeau broke through to bring down Liberty's Peytton Pickett at the line of scrimmage. Army took over on downs and chewed up time with a collection of rushes that advanced the ball to the Liberty 24 and brought the clock down to :05. Landon Salyers hit a 42-yard field goal to send Army up 17-0 at intermission. He was also a perfect 5-for-5 on Points After Touchdowns.