The Army West Point Black Knights Score a Touchdown Late in the Fourth Quarter for a 21 – 17 Win
September 25, 2026 –
Before the Phillies, hoping to clinch a wild card berth, played the Tampa Bay Rays, the Temple Owls met the Army Black Knights at the Linc. Well, neither team got it done as Temple gives up a late touchdown to Army for a 21 – 17 loss in their American opener. Army has won the last 6 games against Temple, all under Coach Jeff Monken.
Last week at Toledo the Cherry and White saw a game with footballs flying through the air. It is totally different playing the Black Knights who plays stout defense and uses a running attack on offense. The effectiveness of the rush showed on the last Army drive. A 12-play, 75-yard drive in 5:57 capped by a touchdown run of 3-yards by quarterback Cale Hellums for the winning points with 1:41left to play. Every play in the Black Knights drive was a running play.
“On the last drive, they just pushed us,” said Temple linebacker Eric Stuart who led the defense with 9 tackles.
That style of play puts pressure on the defense.
“It’s a physical game, and they just find ways to keep getting extra bodies at you,” said Temple Coach K.C. Keeler. “They do a good job at hitting you, hitting you, hitting you, then all of a sudden they’ll slip it out of the backfield.”
“You’re going to get into these one play kind of games. It’s still going to be a lot of fifty-fifty games. We’ve been in two, one out of conference, one in conference, that were fifty-fifty games, one point games, one play games, one yard games, and we’ve come up short.”
There was still time on the clock and the Owls showed heart driving to the Black Knights 24-yard line before turning the ball over on downs.
Possession Game vs. Big Play Offense
Army held the ball for a tick over 38 minutes. They ran the ball on 57 of their 63 offensive plays gaining 279 rushing yards. Each of the Black Knights scoring drives were time consuming; 7:10, 9:56, and 5:57. And all were finished by Hellums running for a touchdown.
The Owls stayed in contention the entire game, and went in front 17 – 14 on a Carl Hardin 29-yard field goal with 7:38 remaining in the fourth quarter. Each time Army scored Temple answered with an explosive play. The Black Knights went ahead 7 – 0 in the opening quarter. The Owls on the ensuing possession got a 78-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ajani Sheppard to running back Sam Brown. It was the longest touchdown pass for Sheppard and the longest reception for Brown.
“We were running that play in practice and I knew there was a chance that I’d be open on it,” Brown said. “They had two guys on top of Peter (tight end Peter Clarke) which left me open. Anjani gave me a shot, and at that point it was just beating the safety.”
Temple could have added points on the board in the second quarter, but a 42-yard field goal attempt by Hardin hit the right upright and bounced away. Doink!
To start the third quarter, Army took the kickoff and marched for a touchdown with a drive that took almost 10 minutes. Again, the Cherry and White used the big play to respond when Sheppard hit wide receiver Colin Chase for a 67-yard scoring toss.
“I saw the corner was low, so I knew Ajani was going to give me a shot,” said Chase. “So, I kept my angle skinny, and he floated the ball over the defense. And it was a perfect ball.”
In the final scoring drive for Temple a 47-yard run by Brown got it started. But this time Army would answer.
What the Numbers Say
Temple nearly matched Army in rushing yards gaining 242 yards. Brown led the team with 96 yards, and he caught a pass for 78 yards. He contributed 174 yards of total offense. Sheppard completed 11 of 20 passes for 242 yards and 2 touchdowns. Chase had 3 catches for 76 yards.
For Army, Hellums ran for 104 yards on 22 carries. He threw the ball 6 times completing 3 for 36 yards.
Up Next
Temple (1 – 3, 0 – 1) travels to South Florida for their first conference road game. South Florida beat Army 28 – 24 at West Point on September 12th. Maybe this time the one play will go their way.
“I think we just played really hard and came one play away from winning the thing,” Keeler said. “Two in a row where we’re one play away, and it’s hard. It’s harder on the kids because they know how much they put into it. Even though we lost the game I thought we grew up a little bit today.”
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: glenn@phillycollegesports.com
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