EVERETT — For a football game, the crowd wasn’t large, the bands weren’t big and the players barely touched each other.
But none of that matters when it’s Army vs. Navy.
On Friday night, sailors squared off against soldiers at Everett Memorial Stadium in the eighth annual Army-Navy Flag Football Game. The game, which features players from Naval Station Everett, always takes place just before the Army-Navy college football game, one of the sport’s most hallowed rivalries.
This is the first time the game has been held in Everett. In previous years, the game has rotated between Fort Lewis Army Base in Tacoma and Navy bases around the Pacific Northwest.
About 100 fans braved near-freezing temperatures to watch the game. Navy fans sat on the southern half of the main grandstands, and Army fans sat to the north. A group of cheerleaders for the Army pumped up the crowd.
The Navy team scored the first touchdown on a third-down, 14-yard pass to the corner of the end zone, and would go on to win, 37-12.
“It’s bragging rights,” said Navy head coach Daniel Burleigh, who works for the U.S. Department of Defense. “But the thing that makes it so good is the level of respect these guys have for each other.”
Most of the players have former experience from high school or college.
The idea for the flag football game was conceived by Otis Sistrunk, a defensive lineman for the Oakland Raiders from 1972 to 1978. Sistrunk, who oversees physical fitness programs and the stadium at Fort Lewis, walked the sidelines Friday as the Army team’s head coach.
Before the game, Sistrunk yelled at a couple of his players who were wandering down to the field without their teammates. “That’s not how we go down onto the field,” he told them.
Minutes later, the entire Army team, clad in yellow jerseys, ran onto the field in a single-file line.
Players from both teams share a special bond, Sistrunk said. Some recently returned from Iraq. Others are about to go.
“Both are in the military, both serve the same purpose,” he said. “As long as they’re out having fun, that’s all that matters.”
James Cannon, 27, who used to be in the Navy, came to watch the game with his wife, Cari Cook, 22, who is a corpsman at Naval Station Everett. They sat together on a blanket on the Navy side of the grandstands.
A big pep rally complete with a bonfire was held at Naval Station Everett on Thursday night to get people excited for the rivalry game.
“It’s good; it adds some competition,” Cannon said. “They’re from Fort Lewis, so it’s like North versus South, Army versus Navy.”
The winner of the game took home bragging rights, as well as a gigantic trophy with a plaque listing the scores from each year’s game. The Navy’s win on Friday gave it a 5-3 lead in the series.
“Nobody wants to go out and hurt someone,” Burleigh said. “Just roll it up, and see who’s willing to work the hardest.”
Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.
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