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ANNAPOLIS, Md. — On a hot, sunny, September morning, hundreds of Midshipmen, dressed in their matching fatigues for a “tactical Thursday,” crisscrossed Navy‘s campus to get to their next class, identical black backpacks hanging from their shoulders.

Midstride, a Midshipman peered out from under the brim of his required hat to say good morning with a huge grin.

“That’s our quarterback,” Navy fullback Daba Fofana told a nearby visitor.

Listed at 6-foot-2, 195 pounds, junior Blake Horvath easily blends in with his classmates on the Yard during school hours — his 3.53 GPA as an operations research major included. When it comes to Navy quarterbacks, though, Horvath stands alone as the best dual-purpose quarterback the program has seen — and probably the only one in the country who wasn’t a household name entering this season but has aligned himself statistically with some of the best in the sport.

The highest a Navy quarterback has ever finished in QBR — which ESPN has been tracking since 2004 — is sixth, by Malcolm Perry in 2019. Horvath entered this week ranked No. 3 in total QBR but for about a month was No. 1 — a spot that in years past has been reserved for the likes of Jayden Daniels (2023), Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud (2021), Alabama’s Mac Jones (2020), LSU’s Joe Burrow (2019) and Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray (2018).

Just a few first-round NFL draft picks.

“And there’s Blake!” said Navy quarterbacks coach Ivin Jasper with a smile.

Not bad for an unassuming Ohio kid who was recruited by a few Division II schools and Mid-American schools Toledo, Ball State and Miami (Ohio) — as a wide receiver and safety.

“People do not understand,” Jasper said. “Blake is really sneaky athletic. You see some high school film where he’s going off two feet and dunking it — I mean going up and throwing it down. It was like, ‘Whoa.’ But he walks in the room, he has this goofy smile on his face, he’s always cracking jokes and giving guys a hard time. He reminds me of the character Mahoney from ‘Police Academy.’ People came after him as a safety, a receiver — he’s a real smart football player, I’m sure he can do any of those things — but we’re happy he’s playing quarterback for us.”

Horvath is a big reason why Navy enters Saturday’s critical game against Notre Dame in Metlife Stadium with a 6-0 record for the first time since 1979. He’s leading the nation’s No. 4 scoring offense (44.8), Navy’s highest average in more than 100 years. The Midshipmen are also No. 1 in red zone offense (23-23), No. 2 in yards per completion (19.3), and No. 4 in rushing offense (274.8).

Horvath, whose breakout season is also his first as the full-time starter, joins Alabama’s Jalen Milroe and Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard as the only quarterbacks in the FBS who have reached double figures in both rushing (10) and passing touchdowns (10) this fall. Horvath, who has thrown only one interception, has been responsible for 20.7 points per game, which ranks seventh nationally. And he enters this week ranked as the No. 1 overall quarterback in the FBS by Pro Football Focus with a grade of 92.7 and the No. 2 overall runner (all players, not just quarterbacks) with a grade of 93.0.

This is an undefeated quarterback whose class lineup includes advanced math programming, data wrangling and visualization, applications of cyber engineering, and dynamic and stochastic models.

(Free wings for any college football fan who knows what stochastic models are.)

“Academics are pretty tough here,” Horvath said. “So, being able to take a bad grade on a test, or a bad quiz and go over to football and forgetting about it — or the other way around, and not letting the success of football get to your head and make you take academics any lighter, because they’re both equally as important in their own right.

“In the past, one of the big things for our football team has been exam weeks,” he said. “During exam weeks, things get pretty stressful, and last season, our two worst games were during exam weeks because of the stress and everything. This year, we already had one during UAB week and we were able to pull out the win. It’s indicative of our team and our ability to overcome some things this season.”

(No, they don’t have exams this week before the Notre Dame game.)

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Blake Horvath launches 77-yard pass to Nathan Kent for Navy TD

Blake Horvath connects with Nathan Kent on a 77-yard pass to make it 21-3 to Navy over UAB.

Instead, the test is whether Navy can sustain its offensive success against a Notre Dame defense that will be light years better than any the Midshipmen have faced so far this season. The Irish are No. 5 in the country in scoring defense, holding opponents to 11.86 points per game. Navy’s opponents are currently ranked 119th in winning percentage (.433).

While Navy’s offense has been soaring, it has come against only one team with a winning record: Memphis (5-1). Temple, UAB and Air Force have combined for four wins.

This isn’t the Navy offense you’re used to seeing, though.

Navy still runs the triple option — in fact first-year offensive coordinator Drew Cronic’s roots are the wing-T. Navy, though, has modernized it.

How?

Well, for starters they call it the “Millennial wing-T.”

It’s a multiple offense. Navy’s quarterbacks have to be fluent in the option, RPO and pro style. They run zone reads and inside zone, and it’s all working. Navy is just one of three teams in the country, along with Army and Indiana, that have won every game this season by double digits.

“It’s not the old-school wing-T that some high schools still run, under center, only handoff left, handoff right,” said Horvath, who is one of three quarterbacks with at least 10 rushing touchdowns, along with rival Army’s Bryson Daily and Alabama’s Milroe. “You can run whatever you want, and we sort of do that. We’ll line up in shotgun, we’ll do whatever’s necessary to get our guys the football in positions for them to succeed.”

Make no mistake — this is still a run-first offense, as Horvath has only attempted 72 passes. By comparison, LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier has thrown it 284 times. The difference in Cronic’s system is that Horvath is talented enough to add that option to the playbook. He has completed 64% of his passes — almost the same as Nussmeier (64.7%). Heading into a game against Navy’s first ranked opponent, Horvath is on pace to not only join but, in some cases, blow by some records set by the who’s who of Navy quarterbacks.

Horvath can obliterate the school record for passing efficiency set by Malcolm Perry, and he’s on pace for the third-best completion percentage behind Hall of Famer Roger Staubach (who is also first and second). He can become the first quarterback in school history to throw for 2,000 and rush for 1,000.

“We have a lot of really good football players here, kids who I think can play anywhere in the country,” Cronic said. “Maybe they’re 2 inches short or 10 pounds light, but we have some kids who can run and do some things and play the football. Blake’s running by people.”

Horvath can also crush the school record for passing yards per attempt (set by Will Worth) and passing yards per completion (set by Ricky Dobbs) and passing touchdowns in a season (also set by Dobbs).

As a team, the 6-0 start is a departure from the recent past. Navy finished 5-7, 4-8, 4-8 and 3-7 the past four seasons. They haven’t had a winning season since going 11-2 in 2019.

“We talk a lot about what the seniors have been through, and what a lot of guys as a team have been through in the past few years,” Horvath said. “We really wanted to come into this season making a change, and to leave a legacy that’s different from what we’ve produced in the past. Being in the position that I’m in, Navy’s had a lot of great quarterbacks — Keenan Reynolds, Malcolm Perry, Roger Staubach — a lot of guys who have been the face of Navy football because they were the quarterback. So when it comes to being a quarterback here, you’re sort of thrust into that role and you have to be able to handle it.”

Horvath earned the role late this past spring, when he beat sophomore Braxton Woodson for the starting job in what was a “neck and neck” competition. Horvath had only started one game last season — and only played in four total games in his collegiate career. His season ended early in October 2023 because of a dislocated thumb that required surgery and a screw. Jasper said Horvath’s arm has gotten stronger, he’s throwing the football better — and it’s all “way more” than they expected.

“You really didn’t know until he got into the games how he was going to respond under the lights,” Jasper said. “We are loving this. We’ve got our quarterback.”

Just two years ago, their quarterback was on the scout team and didn’t play one snap in a game. Now he has thrown for at least 100 yards in all six games — the longest streak by a Navy quarterback since Jim Kubiak did it in 22 straight games over the 1993 and ’94 seasons.

“He’ll step in to throw, know he’s gonna get hit and put it on the money,” Navy coach Brian Newberry said.

And those within the program agree that even with all of his achievements, Horvath has remained humble.

“Blake has the ability of conveying confidence without it being arrogance,” Cronic said. “He has a toughness about him. He needs the right skill set, obviously, but if he’s tough and he’s a competitor, and the guys believe he’s going to get ’em in the end zone, that’s what you’re looking for. When they believe we’re gonna win because he’s in the game, everybody else just plays better, plays freer.”

Navy, one of just 10 undefeated teams left in the country, was picked by the media to finish 11th in the 14-team American Athletic Conference. The Midshipmen are currently in second place with a win over preseason favorite Memphis. A win against Notre Dame would give Navy its first 7-0 start since 1978.

It would also legitimize Navy as a possible playoff contender, as the five highest-ranked conference champions are guaranteed a spot in the 12-team field. If Navy wins the AAC — and has a neutral-site road win against Notre Dame on its résumé — the CFP selection committee could rank Navy high enough for inclusion. It would also depend on how the other Group of 5 conference races unfold, starting Friday night with Boise State at UNLV.

Navy has only beaten a ranked Notre Dame team four times in the series history, the last coming in 2009. While Horvath has come to realize he has played his way into elite company, he remains grounded in who he is.

“I don’t have to do anything outside of who I am to win a game,” said Horvath, who was recruited out of Hilliard Darby High School in Hilliard, Ohio. “I don’t have to go in and play like Joe Burrow or Caleb Williams in order for us to win. I can just be Blake Horvath and we can still win the game. As long as everyone else is doing the same, we’ll be pretty good.”

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Scheifele plays, scores hours after losing father

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Scheifele plays, scores hours after losing father

DALLAS — Winnipeg Jets center Mark Scheifele scored a goal in his club’s must-win Game 6 of the second-round playoff series at Dallas on Saturday night, hours after the unexpected death of his father.

But he also had the penalty that set up the Stars’ power-play goal in overtime for a 2-1 win that knocked the top-ranked Jets out of the playoffs.

Jets captain Adam Lowry went and got Scheifele out of the box when the game ended.

“We’re a family. Just to let him know that we’re there for him. It’s just an awful day for him,” Lowry said. “You want to give him the strength, you want to get that kill so bad. We just couldn’t do it.”

During the handshake line afterward, Scheifele hugged and talked to just about everyone, with Stars players clearly offering their support to him in a heartwarming moment.

Scheifele scored his fifth goal of the playoffs 5½ minutes into the second period to give the Jets a 1-0 lead. He scored on a short snap shot from just outside the crease after gathering the rebound of a shot by Kyle Connor.

“I just I know we have a great group here. I knew, going in, once we found out the news that he’s going to have a great support group and we’re going to be there for him through the highs and the lows and obviously today was a real low,” defenseman Neal Pionk said of Scheifele. “[We] did everything we could to give him some words of encouragement, [and] for him to play tonight, and play the way he did, is flat out one of the most courageous things we’ve ever seen.”

The game was tied at 1 when Sam Steel, who had already scored for Dallas, was on a break. Scheifele lunged forward desperately trying to make a play when he tripped up the forward at the blue line with 14.8 seconds in regulation. Scheifele and the Jets avoided a penalty shot on the play, but ended up losing on the power play when Thomas Harley scored 1:33 into overtime.

Jets coach Scott Arniel said the news of Brad Scheifele’s passing overnight was difficult for the entire team. The team was told before the optional morning skate.

“On behalf of the Winnipeg Jets family, our condolences to Mark and his family. It rocked us all this morning when we found out,” Arniel said before the game. “Mark will be playing tonight. As he said, that’d be the wishes of his dad. He would have wanted him to play.”

Scheifele was the last Jets player to leave the ice following pregame warmups, and during at least part of the singing of “O Canada,” he had his head bowed and his eyes closed. He took the opening faceoff against Roope Hintz.

“The thing about Mr. Scheifele is he’s part of our family. He’s part of the Jets family. He goes back to 2011 when Mark was first drafted here,” Arniel said. “We have a lot of players that came in around the time that are still here that he’s been a big part of their life, along with their family. So it’s certainly, obviously devastating for Mark, but also for a lot of guys on this team.”

Winnipeg general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said the organization was doing everything it can to support Scheifele. There was no immediate word on the cause of Brad Scheifele’s death.

The 32-year-old Mark Scheifele finished with 11 points (five goals, six assists) while playing in 11 of the Jets’ 13 games this postseason. He missed Games 6 and 7 of the first-round series against St. Louis with an undisclosed injury after taking a pair of big hits early in Game 5 of that series.

In Game 5 against the Stars on Thursday night, a 4-0 win by Winnipeg that extended the series, Scheifele was sucker-punched by Stars captain Jamie Benn during a late scrum. Benn got a game misconduct penalty and was fined by the NHL the maximum-allowed $5,000 but avoided a suspension.

Scheifele had 87 points (39 goals and 48 assists) in the 82 regular-season games.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Stars win, oust Presidents’ Trophy-winning Jets

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Stars win, oust Presidents' Trophy-winning Jets

DALLAS — Thomas Harley scored on a power play 1:33 into overtime and the Dallas Stars advanced to the Western Conference final for the third season in a row, beating the top-seeded Winnipeg Jets 2-1 in Game 6 on Saturday night.

Mark Scheifele scored for the Jets hours after the unexpected death of his father, but also had a tripping penalty with 14.8 seconds left in regulation that set up Dallas to start overtime with a man advantage.

Sam Steel, who had scored earlier for Dallas, was on a break when Scheifele lunged forward desperately trying to make a play when he tripped up the forward at the blue line. The Stars called a timeout, but missed a shot and had another one blocked before the end of regulation.

The Stars move on to face the Edmonton Oilers in the West final for the second year in a row and will host Game 1. Connor McDavid and his club, which won in six games last year, wrapped up their second-round series with a 1-0 overtime win over Vegas on Wednesday night in Game 5.

Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger made 22 saves to wrap up his sixth playoff series win over the past three seasons. He made an incredible diving save with 8½ minutes left in regulation, leaning to the right before having to lunge back across his body toward the left post to knock down a shot by Mason Appleton.

Winnipeg goaltender Connor Hellebuyck stopped 19 shots but couldn’t prevent a loss that assured a winless record for his club on the road this postseason. Meanwhile, his final goal allowed continued a magical season for Harley, Dallas’ breakout blueliner who also played for Team Canada this season in the 4 Nations Face-Off.

“Not surprising to the guys in here,” Oettinger said of Harley’s rise to prominence. “We’re very lucky.”

Steel notched his first goal of the playoffs midway through the second period. He shot a long rebound from the top of the right circle, sending the puck into the upper right corner of the net just above Hellebuyck’s glove.

“I’m just disappointed,” Winnipeg captain Adam Lowry said. “We couldn’t get that [penalty] kill for [the fans], and get it back to win in Winnipeg for Game 7. But you know, [I’m] really proud of this group, and the way they handled everything, and the way we fought back. … It just came up short.”

The Jets become the next in a long line of Presidents’ Trophy winners to bow out early. The award, which goes to the NHL’s top regular-season team, was won by the New York Rangers last season before they lost in the Eastern Conference final. Two years ago, the No. 1 seed Boston Bruins lost in the first round to the Florida Panthers.

“We lost to a great team,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “We lost to a team that was in our rearview mirror all year long.”

Scheifele’s effort was a focus for Dallas coach Pete DeBoer, who began his postgame media availability by saying what the Jets star forward did in playing Saturday was “courageous,” adding “I’m sure his dad would’ve been really proud of him and what he did.”

For the Stars, it’s off to the NHL’s final four, as the franchise continues to seek its second Stanley Cup title.

“I think we’ve got something special going on. We’re going to have to prove it again,” DeBoer said. “You know, we’ve been to this spot the last two years and haven’t taken the next step, so that’s the challenge.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Eichel, Knights seek ‘common ground’ on new deal

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Eichel, Knights seek 'common ground' on new deal

As the Vegas Golden Knights absorb being knocked out in the second round of the NHL playoffs by the Edmonton Oilers, they don’t have to wait long before planning for their future. Jack Eichel, who has one season left on his eight-year, $80 million contract, is eligible for an extension beginning July 1.

“He’s one of the top guys in the NHL,” general manager Kelly McCrimmon said. “He’s got great character, great leadership. You see night in, night out what he does for our team, so that will be a really important piece of business for us. We certainly hope to keep Jack in our organization. Jack loves it here, so I would hope we could find common ground.”

Eichel, 28, comes off the best season of his 10-year career, the past four with the Golden Knights. He set career highs with 66 assists and 94 points to go with 28 goals as the center on the team’s top line. He also skated for Team USA in the 4 Nations Face-Off, where his club finished second to Canada.

“Can’t say enough about my teammates and the people in this building and the people that make this organization what it is,” Eichel said. “I’m super proud to be part of this organization and the city and represent the Vegas Golden Knights. Contractually, I think things kind of take care of itself. I’ll just worry about trying to prepare for next season this offseason and go from there.”

Management, which is not known for sitting on its hands, will have other significant decisions to make as well on the team’s direction after the Golden Knights were eliminated in the second round for the second year in a row.

“I like our team,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I don’t have a problem with any player in that room. I think every one of them is a great teammate. They care about one another. Are there areas of our game we could complement better? Probably. We’ll evaluate that.

“All the guys that were up, their contracts, they were all good players for us. All good players. No disappointments at all. We’ll probably have to look at areas because we’re not the last team standing. Usually, you think, ‘Where can we upgrade? Where can I upgrade what I do?'”

McCrimmon offered a similar assessment.

“I feel our team was good enough to win,” McCrimmon said.

The Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup two years ago and thought they had another contender this season after capturing the Pacific Division and securing the Western Conference’s second-best record. But Vegas had to rally from a 2-1 series deficit to beat Minnesota in the opening round, winning twice in overtime. Then the Golden Knights lost two overtime games in the 4-1 series loss to the Edmonton Oilers.

“I didn’t walk away from Edmonton saying, ‘We had no chance. They’re just better,'” Cassidy said. “I didn’t feel that way. I felt we needed to execute better in a few of the games and we could be the team moving on.”

Forward William Karlsson said losing to the Oilers made it “a wasted season.” McCrimmon wasn’t as blunt, instead labeling the loss as “a missed opportunity.”

Change will come, but at least given the tenor of the comments by Cassidy and McCrimmon, the Golden Knights will largely return their roster intact next season.

“I think we have a great organization,” goaltender Adin Hill said. “Best management I’ve been under. I think they’re going to do the things that they see fit for [the] roster, whether it’s keeping it the same or whether it’s changing up a few things. I don’t know. That’s their decision, above my paygrade, but it will be exciting to see. We know that we’re going to be contenders every year.”

Forward Reilly Smith made it clear he wants to return. An original Golden Knight, Smith was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins after winning the Stanley Cup and then sent to the New York Rangers a year later. The Golden Knights reacquired the 34-year-old on March 6.

Smith made a smooth transition back into the lineup with three goals and eight assists in 21 games. Then he delivered the play of the postseason for the Golden Knights, scoring with 0.4 seconds left to beat the Oilers in Game 3, and finished with three goals and an assist in 11 playoff games.

“Probably the best hockey I’ve played in my career has been wearing this jersey,” Smith said. “It’s a fun group to be a part of and a fun place to call home. My family loves it here, so if there’s a way to make it work, it’d be great. At the end of the day, it’s a business. My contract negotiations, I probably know as little as [the media does] right now.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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