Army-Navy.
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It’s a rivalry steeped in more than 100 years of tradition.
Pride. Honor. Respect.
All are at stake.
On Saturday, the two service academies will square off in the 115th Army-Navy football game at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
“It really is America’s game,” said Naval Academy plebe Michelle Tran of Centreville, Virginia. “I’ve never experienced a rivalry this tense.”
The Naval Academy kicked off its rivalry week Sunday night with a bonfire and rally on Farragut Field, not far from the banks of the Severn River.
Flames towered high into the sky. A band played on stage. Fireworks went off nearby.
“This is awesome,” Tran said. “I’ve never seen so much pyrotechnics.”
As midshipmen and other onlookers cheered and took photos, plebe Noah Becker of Grand Rapids, Michigan, watched the action with a smile on his face.
The coming week will allow midshipmen to unite against its rival, he said, but it also puts things in perspective.
Beating Army is important, he said, but he also knows West Point cadets share with him the same desire to serve their country.
“They’re our brothers,” Becker said, “so we want to be the ones who give them the beating. We don’t want to see them get disgraced by anyone else.”
The rally kicked off finals week at the Academy, but the game against Army is on many midshipmen’s minds.
“It’s so much more than a football game,” said midshipmen Ashley Loys of Livermore, California, who watched the bonfire with her sister, Jessica. “It’s about coming together.”
The Naval Academy has won the last 12 games against Army. Most plebes were only 6 years old when Army last won, Superintendent Vice Adm. Walter E. Carter said to a round of cheers.
But Carter compared the winning streak to a pilot making repeated landings on an aircraft carrier.
“For us, this is the game that matters,” he said.
Team captain Parrish Gaines said he was honored to be a part of “the best rivalry in America.” He urged his fellow midshipmen to come to Baltimore to cheer on the team.
“Have a terrific week, beat finals and, most importantly, beat Army,” he said.