The Army Black Knights beat Air Force this past Saturday with a dramatic two-minute drive, giving the Black Knights their third straight win over Air Force. This final series capped perhaps the most dramatic game in this rivalry since either 2020 or perhaps 2021, if not ever. QB Cade Hellums and WR Brady Anderson etched their names into Army lore with a gorgeous 42-yard downfield pass that positioned PK Dawson Jones for the game-winner as time expired. Ultimately, Hellums took Army 65 yards in the final 1:26 to keep Army’s bowl, and more importantly, Commander-In-Chief Trophy hopes alive.

What you may not realize, however, is that this drive serves as a sequel to a similar game-winning drive that happened over fifty years ago. As in 2025, a young Army quarterback trying to make a name for himself led Army to a last-second field goal over Air Force way back in 1974.

Before nearly taking Army to the Independence Bowl in 1977 and earning a spread in Sports Illustrated (we covered both things last year), QB Leamon Hall was an unheralded freshman quarterback on Army’s 1974 team. The lanky 6’5” plebe fit poorly into Head Coach Homer Smith’s wishbone scheme and only entered games in passing situations for the Black Knights. Hall had shown that he could throw the ball, but that mattered little for an Army team that entered the Air Force game with a 2-5 record. Those five losses included a 48-point blowout to Notre Dame and a 17-point loss to Tulane. Army’s only wins came in one-score affairs over Holy Cross and Lafayette.

After an Air Force missed field goal, Hall took control of the Army offense with 1:20 left, down 16-14. He completed three passes for 57 yards to TE Jeff Jancek, scrambled for another four yards, then benefited from a pass interference call to set up yearling PK Mike Marquez at the Air Force 16. Note that Janceks’ three catches represented nearly 25 percent of his career yardage and nearly 20 percent of his career catches.

Friends, Marquez was not even the starting kicker! He got pressed into duty after starting PK Mike Castelli injured himself on Army’s first extra point. But Marquez delivered the game-winner with 17 seconds remaining, bringing light to an otherwise gloomy 3-8 campaign.

While Army hopes to BEAT NAVY! and avoid the fate of that 1974 team overall, the team must certainly hope that QB Cale Hellums enjoys a similar trajectory to Hall’s after he engineered that game-winning drive. Hall earned the starting job in 1975 after Homer Smith switched to a pro-style scheme, and the Army Team never looked back. As a firstie, Hall led the team to a 7-4 record and won the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy. The New York Writers’ Association went on to name Coach Smith the Eastern Coach of the Year. 

Sure, Hellums has had his share of growing pains. However, he has undoubtedly become Army’s quarterback of the future. The game-winning drive against Air Force confirms this. He may not break Hall’s over passing records, but Hellums can lead Army to similar heights as Hall in this year and the next. This Air Force win can become that springboard.

Hall finished his career with 5,502 passing yards and 38 touchdowns. His passing touchdowns are still a program record, and his passing yardage is still second-best all-time. Hall owns the Army season record for touchdown passes with 15 and has the second and third-best season passing yardage totals. Most importantly, he led Army to a Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy and a 7-4 record in his senior year in 1977.

This history bodes well for Hellums. Both Hellums and Hall were in their first years of significant playing time when they led their classic drives against Air Force. Hellums appeared in just three games in 2024 and made just his sixth career start against Air Force this past weekend. By comparison, Hall’s last-minute appearance against Air Force in 1974 came in just his second game ever.

We couldn’t find video of the 1974 Army-Air Force game.
The closest we could get was Hall’s 1977 triumph over Navy.

People often fear repeating history, but this weekend’s Air Force game showed that maybe that’s not always such a bad thing.

Statistics sourced from Army’s 2025 Football Media Guide, which you can read here.

Go Army! Beat Temple!!!