Navy Midshipmen Great Congratulates Star Quarterback on Record Setting Touchdown

A Navy Midshipmen quarterback received praise from a former great for his record-setting touchdown run.

Dec 27, 2024; Fort Worth, TX, USA; Navy Midshipmen quarterback Blake Horvath (11) celebrates winning the MVP after the game against the Oklahoma Sooners at Amon G. Carter Stadium. / Andrew Dieb-Imagn Images

The 2024 college football season was an excellent one for the Navy Midshipmen and their quarterback, Blake Horvath.

The team won 10 games, only the sixth time in program history they reached double-figures. It snapped their four-year streak of finishing under the .500 mark and included some incredible performances.

The Commander-in-Chief’s trophy was won as they defeated the Army Black Knights 31-13. Their season was capped off with a victory over the Oklahoma Sooners in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl with a thrilling 21-20 final score.

Among the biggest plays in that win over Oklahoma was Horvath breaking off a 95-yard run for a touchdown late in the third quarter to tie the game at 14-14.

It was the first of two scores for the talented quarterback, who rushed for another score with 4:36 remaining to give the Midshipmen their first lead of the game, 21-20.

He finished the game with 18 rushing attempts for 155 yards and two touchdowns, adding 92 passing yards. It was enough for him to be given the MVP award while also putting his name into the team’s record books.

That 95-yard scamper is the longest touchdown run in Navy history, breaking the previous record that was set by running back John Sai against the Duke Blue Devils on Nov. 16, 1963.

After seeing his record get broken, the Midshipmen legend reached out to Bill Wagner of the Capital Gazette because he wanted to properly congratulate Horvath on breaking his record.

“I’ve been waiting 61 years for this moment and am glad to finally pass the record on to such a great young man,” Sai wrote in an email, which prompted Wagner to set up a Zoom between the two football stars.

A great conversation was had between them, Sai was happy to still be alive to see the record broken, congratulating Horvath right at the start of their interaction.

Both players made sure to emphasize that their record-breaking runs couldn’t have been done alone. It was a total team effort, as precision blocking was done by all of their teammates to spring them for the long touchdowns.

“Blake, I heard you talking about how it could not have happened without your teammates and that was certainly the case for me. I had a hole you could have driven a truck through,” Sai said.

A former sprinter, the running back set the Navy record in the 100-yard dash with a time of 9.7 seconds. He needed all of that speed to complete his 93-yard run, as one of Duke’s defensive backs was a state champion in South Carolina in the same race.

On that day, Sai was just fast enough to outlast him, avoiding being tripped up at the 5-yard line. Horvath doesn’t have sprint speed like that but did reach 21 MPH on his run, which Sai was impressed by.

“I tell you what, you don’t look very fast out there on the field, but you must be fast because no one could catch you man,” Sai told Horvath.

“It’s sneaky speed. It catches up to some people,” the star quarterback responded with.