West Point welcomes the US Naval Academy Saturday for a non-conference game that is anything but a friendly.

The two teams have both already played Air Force, so this game will culminate a round-robin series between the three major military academies. It’s also a classic rivalry game - Navy Head Coach Mike Flanagan’s voicemail greeting ends with “Go Navy, Beat Army” and he hasn’t changed that in many years. It’s that important.

Army won the Four Leaf tournament last weekend, cantering through Seton Hall, Loyola, American University, Fairfield, and finally Stony Brook without giving up a single point. 

"That was one of the best performances I've seen in the 25 years I've been involved in coaching here," said head coach Mike Mahan, who used a full squad and saw 25 different Black Knights score. 

Army is now ranked #7 in the Goff Rugby Report rankings, which includes all DIA, DIAA, and Varsity Cup teams. They dropped one spot because Lindenwood moved up from #8 to #5 after beating then-#5 Davenport. Navy is currently #17 after a series of losses to club teams and a loss to Wheeling Jesuit.

That WJU loss, especially, was an important lesson for the Midshipmen.

“We were served well by that loss,” growled Flanagan. “We had all the possession and all the territory, and we also made all the mistakes. We were still right in it at the end, but while Wheeling Jesuit brought their A-game, we kept making errors.”

Losses to NYAC and Norfolk Blues clubs, plus a win over Clemson, have Navy at a crossroads as they enter the meat of their season. They play Army, and then Dartmouth in the Varsity Cup opener.

“We could lose and go home right there,” said Flanagan. “So yeah it’s big.”

For Navy, flyhalf Jack McCauliffe is a polished #10 who reads the game well and runs the Midshipman offense. He saw his longtime halfback partner Ricky Neel-Feller graduate, but Dan Page has stepped in admirably at that position to provide a solid hinge for Navy.

With Justin Menke at fullback they have a good core of backs. 

Meanwhile, for Army it’s about the vertical game. Captain Collum Magee is one of the best loose forwards in the college game, and he leads from the front. But they have some useful players in the backs, with John Banarhall at scrumhalf, Thomas Del Pino, Andrew Fargo, and David Huff showcasing skill and pace. 

Up front, Donald Goff (no relation to this site’s editor) has come back from injury to provide key minutes at prop, as has David Evans, while lock Ben Foley will have a lot of work to do.

As usual, this game will be a huge physical contest, and will likely come down to the wire. Currently Army is 1-0 in the unofficial round-robin with Navy and Air Force. Air Force finished 1-1, and Navy is 0-1. Any of the three teams could still win the series. (There is no official series, so we could institute bonus points if we wanted to. We haven’t and we’re going with straight wins and losses.) Army has to win or tie to take the series, but if they do that they’ve won it outright. If Army loses by any amount, then the Black Knights cannot win the series.

Navy has to win by more than 12 to win the series. If Navy wins by 11 or fewer, Air Force wins.

“I don’t know who will win,” enthused Flanagan. “But I do know we’ve had a terrific week of practice, and if we play to our ability and Army plays to theirs, it’s going to be one heck of a game.”

The game between Army and Navy will kick off at the Anderson Rugby Complex on the US Military Academy campus at 1pm Saturday. The game will also be webcast live at http://www.goarmysports.com/collegesportslive/ . There is a charge for viewing.