Week 16: Eli Heidenreich, Navy

photo courtesy navy athletics

Navy wide receiver Eli Heidenreich has been named the DC Touchdown Club Washington Metro College Football Player of the Week after he made two crucial plays to lift the Midshipmen to victory over rival Army to win the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy.

With Navy driving for the go-ahead touchdown midway through the fourth quarter, the Midshipmen faced second-and-goal from the 1-yard line. Quarterback Blake Horvath fumbled as he tried to get in the end zone, but it was Heidenreich who scrambled to recover the ball for a seven-yard loss.

“That’s probably the last thing you want to see on the one-yard line, turning around and seeing the ball bouncing behind you,” Heidenreich said. “I was blocking down and I thought he had pushed in. In the periphery of my eye I saw it going behind me. I think every football player’s natural instinct, that nothing else matters is you have to get on that ball. That’s what happened.”

One play later, on fourth-and-goal from the 8, Horvath found Heidenreich for the game-winning score as Navy pulled out a 17-16 win to retain the CIC Trophy.

“It was funny. In the huddle, the play we ran has two seams,” Heidenreich said. “He (Blake) has the option to pick the seam on either side. I was like, ‘are you coming to me?’ He gave me the funniest facial expression. He was like, ‘Dude, come on; obviously.’ ”

Heidenreich was named the Duke Cannon Offensive Player of the Game. He finished with six catches for 72 yards five rushes for 28 yards. Late in the second quarter, Heidenreich’s 21-yard catch on third-and-16 set a new Navy record for receiving yards in a season. Heidenreich now has 46 catches for 877 yards.