NORTHFIELD, Vt.- In their penultimate home game of the season, the Norwich Football team took on archrival Coast Guard in the 78^th edition of the Little Army-Navy game on a blustery day at Sabine Field.

The two defenses ruled the day in the opening quarter with neither offense moving the ball more than 30 yards on a drive. On Coast Guard's first drive of the second quarter, Quarterback Joey Armentrout would be intercepted by Jeremy Henault (Goffstown, N.H.) for the second time, giving the Cadets possession in plus territory. After a key fourth down conversion where Aidan Sullivan (Eliot, Maine) found Jack Berthiaume (Plainville, Mass.) in the red zone, eventually leading to a six-yard rush by Jehric Hackney (Jericho, Vt.) for the game's opening score, capping off an 11-play drive. On their next possession, the Bears would cut the lead in half with a field goal. Late in the half, after a 40-yard passing play, Coast Guard would jump ahead with a touchdown to take a four-point lead into the half.

After both offenses turned the ball over on downs on their first drives of the second half, the Cadets took over at their own 37. A defensive pass interference penalty would move the ball into Coast Guard territory, before Hackney dragged Norwich into the red zone. On first and goal from the ten, Sullivan would find Will Thornton (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) along the sideline in the end zone who successfully tapped his toes to give Norwich the lead back.

To open the fourth quarter, the Bears retook the lead capping off a 17-play drive that covered 80 yards. Coast Guard would shut down the Norwich offense, while bleeding the clock leading to their second straight victory in the storied rivalry and retaining "The Mug".

Despite the result it was a strong day for the Norwich defense, holding a potent passing Coast Guard team to 186 yards through the air. Henault tallied eight total tackles to go along with his two interceptions. Coming off being named "Defender of the Nation", Shayne Leddy (Spring Lake, N.J.) led the defensive effort with 13 total tackles, three for a loss of six yards, along with forcing and recovering a fumble as well as a Quarterback hurry. Also atop the leaderboard for tacklers was Simon Taraska (Willowick, Ohio) with nine.

Norwich will head back on the road next week when they travel to Springfield College for a 12 PM kickoff on Nov. 2.