The recent Government shutdown this past week has not only impacted the political world, but the sports world as well, particularly the Air Force vs. Navy game for the Commander-in-Chief’s trophy held every year in college football.

This year things were a little different leading up to the game. With the Government being shutdown, it caused each of the United States service academies to shut down. This included both the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado and the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

With the two service academies shut down, it was not certain whether or not the game would be played. The game was put on hold when the government shutdown. The more days that went by, the more questions were asked. No one was sure if the game would be played.

Come Friday, the Secretary of Defense was set to make a decision on whether or not the game would be played.

On Friday, a press conference was held at the Pentagon in Washington DC. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel made his statement announcing that come Saturday, October 5^th the game between the Air Force Falcons and the Navy Midshipmen would be played as expected in Annapolis.

Navy came into the game with a 2-1 record with wins over Indiana and Delaware before dropping one at Western Kentucky. Air Force came into the game at 1-4 with their only win coming against Colgate.

Navy’s football program has been on the rise and it was proven by winning the Commander-in-Chief’s trophy with last season’s defeat of Air Force in Colorado Springs. This year Navy was set to defend the Commander-in-Chief’s trophy with one thing in mind ‘Beat Air Force.’

That is exactly what Navy did, winning the game 28-10 with a dominating rushing attack led by quarterback Keenan Reynolds, who rushed for 126 yards on 28 carries with three touchdowns. Running back Demond Brown also added a touchdown.

For Air Force, their lone touchdown came in the second quarter courtesy of Anthony LaCoste who ran one in from 18 yards out. At that point in time La Coste’s touchdown gave Air Force a 10-7 lead going into the half.

In the second half, Navy came out firing, scoring once in the third quarter on a Demond Brown 38 yard run which gave Navy a 14-10 lead which they never relinquished. Keenan Reynolds had Navy’s two touchdowns in the fourth, running them in from two and ten yards.

Navy retained control of the Commander-in-Chief’s trophy with its 28-10 victory last Saturday over Air Force improving to 3-1 on the season and sending Air Force to 1-5. The trophy will again be defended on December 14^th when Navy takes on Army in the annual Army-Navy game in Philadelphia Pennsylvania.