ASSOCIATED PRESS Navy players celebrated with the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy following their 42-23 victory over Army yesterday.

Midshipmen get Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy back legally

PHILADELPHIA » Pranks are always part of Army-Navy week.

None was more daring, in recent years, than a note left at the Naval Academy in Annapolis earlier this week. Someone scribbled that the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy, awarded to the service academy with the best record among the schools, was taken from campus. Because both Army and Navy defeated Air Force this season, the Commander-in-Chief's trophy was clearly up for grabs yesterday.

The hardware was indeed missing, and by the time the Mids read the note, the trophy, it was assumed, was somewhere on the New Jersey Turnpike, and heading to West Point, N.Y.

When the trophy re-appeared at Lincoln Financial Field prior to the game, Navy had little trouble turning the tables, and retaining the award. With the win over the Black Knights, the Mids hold on to the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy for the third straight year.

"At the start of the season, we set a number of goals," said Navy quarterback Lamar Owens.

"First is to win all of our home games, of course beat Army, and to win the Commander-in-Chief's trophy. To keep the trophy, we had a great effort from our seniors, and really, everyone did the job they were supposed to do."

This is only the third time in the history of the award that Navy has captured three straight Commander-in-Chief's trophies. The other two occasions were 1973-76 and 1978-81. The win gave Navy a 50-49-7 series lead.

Notes: The loss was the second in a row to Navy for Army head coach Bobby Ross, who admitted his team was outplayed. "We took a beating," he said. "We didn't come off the ball like we have in the last few weeks. Navy controlled the line of scrimmage, and that was not good for us." ... For Army, senior running back Carlton Jones gained 84 yards on 22 carries. He finished his career with 1,024 yards, good for second place among Army's all-time leading rushers. ...Quarterback Zac Dahman, also playing his final game as a senior, set an Army-Navy series record by completing 23 passes for 255 yards and three touchdowns. ... Navy's 490 rushing yards was the fifth-best total in school history. It was also the most rushing yards in a game since Navy picked up 530 yards on the ground against Central Michigan two years ago. By contrast, Army gained 116 yards rushing, and 255 through the air. For the game, Navy amassed 531 yards of total offense, while Army accumulated 33. ... For the third time in his last four games, Owens scored three touchdowns. He was named the game's MVP. ... Next year's game will be played at Lincoln Financial Field, but the 2007 game is slated for Baltimore. The 2008 and 2009 games return to Philadelphia, the end of the current contract between the academies and site promoters.