Instead of drilling, the ROTC Army and Navy cadets decided to cut loose for an afternoon to square off on the gridiron in the spirit of friendly competition.
About 250 UF ROTC members from the Army and Navy stood on the sidelines of the football field near the Southwest Recreation Center on Thursday, cheering on their flag-football teams as the teams did battle.
The game has been played on and off since 1996 and is usually played in the same week as the actual Army-Navy football game, which is scheduled for this weekend.
The UF Navy ROTC won 14-7 in overtime.
The Army team struck the first blow when quarterback Justin Hall threw a long pass to wide receiver Jamie Wheeler, who hauled it in and took it the distance on fourth down.
After the score, Army’s fans and players rushed the end zone to celebrate en masse.
Navy responded with a touchdown and end zone celebration of their own later in the half.
The score held all the way until the end of regulation, with each team failing to close out the game in the final seconds.
Navy scored first to make it 14-7 in overtime, and Army failed to convert a fourth-down attempt, ending the game.
“It was a hard-fought game,” said Andrew Rotz, the team captain and quarterback for the Navy ROTC team. “We’re glad Army showed up and played a good game. We’d really like to see this become a UF event and get some students out here.”
A scuffle broke out during the fourth quarter when an Army cadet tried to steal a flag from the Navy sideline.
“It’s a heated rivalry,” said Cedric Jones, who worked to organize the game alongside fellow Army cadet Brian Amos. “It goes back roughly 100 years, so there’s a lot of pranks and shenanigans. But in the end, we’re all one team; one fight.”
