• Associated Press

Dec 9, 2023, 07:15 PM ET

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. —

The matchup of patriots at the New England Patriots‘ home brought an injection of pomp and excitement to Gillette Stadium, where the six-time Super Bowl champions have stumbled to a 3-10 record — getting shut out twice at home in a season for the first time in franchise history. New England is on pace for the worst season in Bill Belichick’s three decades as an NFL head coach, stripping some of the shine off the devoted Navy man who is in the discussion for the greatest of all time.

Belichick, who grew up in Annapolis, Maryland, while his father spent 34 years as a Navy assistant coach, spoke to the Midshipmen on Friday night and pulled on a Roger Staubach-era Navy helmet for a TV pregame show to predict the winner.

It wasn’t enough.

“I know Belichick has a rich history with Navy. I know his dad coached there,” Army linebacker Leo Lowin said. “I know Boston’s near the ocean. But it’s good to get an Army win here.”

The Black Knights opened a 17-3 lead with less than five minutes to play before Lavatai drove Navy for one score then took the Midshipmen to the Army 6-yard line in the final minute. He threw two incompletions before hitting Alex Tecza, who was tackled in bounds at the 2.

With no timeouts and no opportunity to spike the ball — it was fourth down — Navy scrambled to line up and get the play off. Lavatai surged forward as his whole team pushed, ahead of him and behind, but Army held on; replay confirmed that the ball never crossed the goal line.

To kill the remaining three seconds, Daily took a shotgun snap, hesitated and stepped out of the end zone for an intentional safety.

Cadets began to storm the field before being sent back for another review to see if time had expired. The confirmation from the booth set off another wave of Army fans onto the field.

“It definitely would have been nice to have more of a stress-free game. But it speaks to the Army-Navy rivalry: They don’t quit; we don’t quit,” Lowin said. “I’m just so proud to be a part of this team and say I was an Army football player.”

It was just the second time since 1926 that America’s Game has left the mid-Atlantic region and its first trip to Massachusetts, where George Washington took command of the Continental Army and where the USS Constitution — the world’s oldest commissioned naval warship — is docked.

Organizers squeezed in a weekend of activities at historic sites in the area, including a pep rally and debate at Faneuil Hall, a ceremony to mark the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party and a tug-of-war at the Old North Bridge in Concord, the location of the “shot heard round the world.”

Nearly 100 buses carried students from Annapolis and West Point, New York, and to Foxborough, where they took the field in their dress grays and blues in a pregame “march-on of the Brigade of Midshipmen and Corps of Cadets.” Ultramarathon relay teams ran game balls from their campuses, and parachute teams dropped onto the 50-yard line. New recruits were sworn in during a third-quarter timeout.

Representatives of the two academies came to midfield for the coin toss. The Army cadets spelled out “EAT SQUID” in yellow tape on their gray overcoats; Navy countered with “NUKE ARMY.”

Wearing gold uniforms that paid tribute to the Dogface Soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division, Army took a 10-0 lead against a Navy team that had zero pass completions at the half. Lavatai replaced starter Xavier Arline in the second quarter and drove Navy into field goal position early in the fourth to make it 10-3.

But with about five minutes left, Fortner punched the ball out, picked it up on one bounce and scampered 44 yards for a touchdown that gave Army a 17-3 lead.

“I hit the ball. It’s almost kind of like I planned it, the way it bounced in my hands, and I just started running. And I saw on the jumbotron sea of gold jerseys behind me,” Fortner said. “It was just a surreal moment.”