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Army Navy Game 2009

December 5, 2009 by · Comments Off on Army Navy Game 2009 

Army Navy Game 2009:WEST POINT — For the U.S. Military Academy’s football team, next week is the most important of the year.

On Dec. 12, it faces Navy for the 110th time on the gridiron.

Leading up to that game the whole corps of cadets will participate in Spirit Week, which begins Monday and lasts until Thursday.

It includes flag football games and bonfires, boat burnings and speeches.

“This year is the year we are going to make history,” said cadet Maci Farley, a senior and the school’s spirit captain. “You can feel it amongst the corps. Every one is feeling it, everyone is excited.”

The Black Knights have won five games, which means if they beat Navy, they will be eligible to play in a bowl game.

In addition to the planned spirit activities , this year coach Rich Ellerson is also resurrecting an old tradition.

In honor of the fallen soldiers, Ellerson will walk the players to Trophy Point for a moment of silence before they board the bus.

“We expect it to be fiercely contested,” Ellerson said of the Army-Navy game in a press release on Thursday.

“We expect to win. We know it’s going to be hard. We know it’s going to be an uphill fight. No disrespect to Navy and what they’ve accomplished, obviously they are the more accomplished football team, but we’re gaining on them,” Ellerson said. “We’re anxious to share this venue. We’re anxious to measure ourselves against the service academy that right now is dominant.”

Counting down until the game, which will be played at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Farley is channeling the corps’ emotions into even more events to make sure the school remains excited all week long.

As spirit captain, Farley has a staff of nine people who help her organize Spirit Week events.

She also is responsible for the coordination of the band, the cannon crew and the radio station personnel. Farley also plays a role in the spirit dinners, weekly Thursday night corps dinners.

“It never goes away,” Farley said of her job, “but I love to get people excited and it’s the funnest job in the corps.”

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