All Chauncey Henry wanted was an opportunity to win the game for his Army team from Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

The Navy team had other ideas.

Sailor Art Martinez picked off a pass bound for Henry in the game's final minute to preserve a 20-15 victory for Navy Dec. 3 in the 11th annual Army vs. Navy flag football game at Cowan Stadium on JBLM.

After forcing Navy into a turnover on downs with less than two minutes left, Army drove the ball to its 48-yard line. Army quarterback Eric Sanderson tried to get Henry on a fade route down the sideline, but had to throw the ball early to avoid being sacked by a heavy Navy pass rush. Henry broke off his pattern to come back for the under thrown ball, but Martinez beat him to the spot for the interception.

"He's a competitor," Army coach Lonnie Meredith said of Henry. "You have to credit their defensive line for making (Sanderson) throw it a little earlier. If he would have had another second I think we probably could have a different result. (Henry) tried to get it and make a play. That's all we can ask our guys to do."

Had the soldiers been able to score, it would have capped off a stellar second-half comeback.

"We hurt ourselves with a lot of dropped balls in the first half," said Henry, a Florida native who played college football at Miami (Ohio) University before embarking on his Army career as an officer. "We came out in the second half catching balls, making plays, and the defense stepped up. So it worked out, we just couldn't finish it at the end."

Down 20-6 at halftime, Army started the second half hot. Albert Hutchins nailed a 33-yard field goal to cap off the soldiers' opening drive and cut the deficit to 11 points. On the ensuing Navy drive, Jarrell Martin picked off Navy quarterback Ray Salinas in the end zone to thwart the sailors. Army scored again early in the fourth quarter when Sanderson hit Thomas Blaine with a 43-yard touchdown strike. A failed two-point conversion left the deficit at five points.

"The front line finally got some pressure on the (Navy) quarterback," Army assistant coach Reginald Christor said. "We saw what they were doing in the first half and we had to make the adjustment in the second half."

Early on, Navy jumped out to a 20-0 lead before Henry's 7-yard touchdown reception with 36 seconds left in the first half finally got Army on the board.

"We got punched ... we came out flat," Meredith said. "You can't come out flat. We talked about it in the Air Force game. That was really our concern coming into it. Against a team like this, it's hard to bounce back."

Playing in his first game of the annual matchup, Henry, who returned from a deployment in August, enjoyed the overall experience.  

"Oh man, it hurts," he said of the loss. "But we fought back."