Playing on the Terrazzo in the middle of the Air Force Academy campus, Air Force defeated Navy Friday afternoon in a non-conference clash between the rival service academies. Led by two tries from No. 8 Garrett Jameson and two from open side flanker Greg Search, the Zoomies were just a little more polished than the Midshipmen, who had not played as much of late. Air Force ran out 38-26 victors, setting them up for a possible sweep of the service academies as they face Army later this season. “What we wanted to do was work through the phases,” said AFA Head Coach Joe Muehlbauer. “We have been able to rely on our athleticism against some other opponents, but we knew that wouldn’t work against Navy. We needed to be a little more patient and more organized.” And they were, with scrumhalf Victor Woo constantly chirping at his forwards to consolidate possession and make sure ball was secure. Meanwhile, Navy played well, but were punished by a few small mistakes. “Every mistake they made we capitalized on,” said Muehlbauer. “And that really turned the game around. We played our phases, and were able to set free out strike runners.” Search was a scorer, and also influential on defense. Meanwhile for Navy backs Jack McAuliffe (flyhalf) and fullback Justin Menke played well, and up front it was a strong effort from everyone, especially come scrum time. Navy gave Air Force all kinds of trouble in the scrum, mitigating some of their dropped balls as a result. "We scrummed very well and we rucked well," said Navy Head Coach Mike Flanagan. "And we did some good things in attack. On defense when we put pressure on them we got results, but when we didn't, or when we didn't tackle well, they exploited their offload game and hurt us." The game was for the Lt. Col. Kevin M. Shea Memorial Cup, an award named after Kevin Shea, who played rugby for Air Force, and coached rugby at the Naval Academy. He cross-commissioned as a Marine and was killed in action in Iraq in 2004. Shea's daughter, who is at the Naval Academy, and his wife, were present at the game. With the Shea Cup at stake and a big crowd on hand in Colorado Springs, the victory over Navy had extra meaning for the Zoomies. “It’s huge,” said Muehlbauer. “Whenever we beat one of the other service academies, its big. We’ve been playing so well, I am just happy for my guys. And to play on the Terrazzo with hundred of cadets watching made it even better.”