Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
0-1 , 0-0
Tarleton State
2-0 , 0-0
Football Drops Season Opener at Home to Tarleton State
August 29, 2025 | Football
WEST POINT, N.Y. — The Army West Point Black Knights opened their 2025 season at Michie Stadium, where the rising structure of the Michie Stadium Preservation Project — set to debut in 2026 — provided a striking backdrop, but despite leading by 14 points in the second half, the defending American Conference champions fell 30-27 in double overtime to FCS opponent Tarleton State.
Army (0-1) had multiple chances to close out the game. Sophomore K Dawson Jones missed a potential game-winning 43-yard field goal at the end of regulation and was off target again from 35 yards in the second overtime. Tarleton State (2-0) capitalized as K Brad Larson hit a 37-yarder to secure the Texans' second-ever victory over an FBS program.
Tarleton State relied heavily on its rushing attack, finishing with two running backs over 80 yards. Caleb Lewis led the way with 107 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries, while Tre Paige III added 89 yards and a score on 14 attempts.
Army Quarterback Dewayne Coleman, making his second career start, led Army's offense early with a 26-yard touchdown run and finished with 129 passing yards and a career-best 100 rushing yards on 24 carries with one score. He also threw two interceptions in the second half, including one in the red zone. Junior QB Cale Hellums added a one-yard touchdown run before halftime and filled in late after Coleman exited briefly with an injury.
Running back Hayden Reed gave Army its largest lead of the night, breaking loose for a 37-yard touchdown in the third quarter to put the Black Knights up 24-10. Tarleton answered quickly with a short scoring run and later tied the game at 24 in the fourth following a Reed fumble deep in Army territory when Texans' QB Victor Gabalis threw a 15-yard touchdown.
Army's defense kept the game tight with two sacks (ILB Kalib Fortner and OLB Eric Ford) and several key stops, but the offense committed three straight turnovers in the second half — two interceptions and a fumble — that shifted momentum.
With 1:17 remaining in regulation, Army had one final chance to win before overtime. Hellums, filling in for an injured Coleman, scrambled for 16 yards to move the Black Knights into field-goal range. That set up sophomore kicker Dawson Jones with a 43-yard attempt in the closing seconds, but his kick sailed wide right, sending the game into overtime.
In overtime, both teams traded field goals in the first period. Army went three-and-out to start the second, setting up Jones for another attempt, but his 35-yarder was wide right. Tarleton then marched into range for Larson's deciding kick.
GAME NOTES
- Carrying the Flag: Senior OL Will Jeffcoat led the Black Knights onto the field with the Black Flag.
- Division of the Game: Army honored the 101st Airborne Division with a logo decal on the players' helmets and coaches' headsets. The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. The 101st is designed to plan, coordinate, and execute brigade-sized air assault operations that can be conducted in one period of darkness, at distances up to 500 nautical miles, to seize key terrain and hold it for up to 14 days.
- Army is 16-3 in its last 19 games dating back to Nov. 2023, a stretch that entering Friday ranked second nationally in winning percentage (.889), trailing only Oregon.
- Head Coach Jeff Monken is now 9-3 in home openers.
- Coleman logged his first career 100-yard rushing game.
- Hellums scored his first career touchdown on a 1-yard run.
- Slot back Noah Short matched his career high with six receptions, totaling 81 yards.
- Reed's touchdown run was the sixth of his career.
- LB Kalib Fortner and OLB Eric Ford each recorded sacks.
- Army logged 411 yards of total offense (280 rushing and 131 passing).
- First career starts: LT Henry Appleton, RT Teddy Williams, WR Brady Anderson, TE Parker Poloskey, OLB Gavin Shields, FS Collin Matteson.
- Secretary of the Army Daniel P. Driscoll attended the season opener.
- Attendance: 23,032.
Team Stats
TAR 3, AWP 0
TAR - Larson,Brad 30 yd field goal 12 plays, 65 yards, TOP 05:02
TAR 3, AWP 7
AWP - Coleman,Dewayne 26 yd run (Jones,Dawson kick), 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 03:57
TAR 10, AWP 7
TAR - Page III,Tre 10 yd run (Larson,Brad kick), 12 plays, 90 yards, TOP 04:29
TAR 10, AWP 10
AWP - Jones,Dawson 24 yd field goal 15 plays, 67 yards, TOP 07:49
TAR 10, AWP 17
AWP - Hellums,Cale 1 yd run (Jones,Dawson kick), 5 plays, 39 yards, TOP 00:45
TAR 10, AWP 24
AWP - Reed,Hayden 37 yd run (Jones,Dawson kick), 6 plays, 65 yards, TOP 02:53
TAR 17, AWP 24
TAR - Lewis,Caleb 6 yd run (Larson,Brad kick), 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 02:59
TAR 24, AWP 24
TAR - Hearne,Dawson 15 yd pass from Gabalis,Victor (Larson,Brad kick) 3 plays, 20 yards, TOP 00:50
TAR 27, AWP 24
TAR - Larson,Brad 28 yd field goal 8 plays, 14 yards, TOP 00:00
TAR 27, AWP 27
AWP - Jones,Dawson 40 yd field goal 4 plays, 2 yards, TOP 00:00
TAR 30, AWP 27
TAR - Larson,Brad 37 yd field goal 4 plays, 5 yards, TOP 00:00
