Sophomore Greg Elliott had a 64-yard touchdown reception to expand the Warriors' lead in the third quarter and added an interception in the fourth to set up another score that provided the margin of victory as the Warriors withstood LJCD's late comeback bid to prevail 27-21.

The win gives Army-Navy the inside track on the Pacific League championship with two games left for each school in the regular season.

Tommy Brown rushed for 151 yards and one score on 27 carries, and Varden Bernstein passed for 174 yards and two touchdowns to lead Army-Navy (6-2, 2-0).

Elliott said he especially appreciated the game's meaning since he played on the varsity a year ago, when LJCD topped the Warriors 31-7 on the way to its fourth straight league crown.

“This is what we've been working for,” Elliott said. “Last year, we went to their place and lost badly, and this year, we got a little revenge. We've been hyped up for this game the whole season.”

Army-Navy saw the Torreys (5-3, 1-1) close to 27-20 when Montell Allen ran 3 yards for his second TD of the game with 2:26 left. Then LJCD recovered the ensuing onside kickoff and advanced to the Warriors' 20 before losing the ball on downs with 1.8 seconds to go.

“We were holding it together the whole game,” Elliott said. “But the way that we stepped it up in the fourth quarter, that was all our team. That was what our coaches built us for all year.”

Elliott, from San Marcos, has attended Army-Navy since the eighth grade with the plan of eventually studying chemical engineering in college.

“I saw the school, and I liked it,” Elliott said. “I've always been a military kid. I just seized the opportunity.”

To open this season, Elliott played quarterback, but three weeks into the campaign, he switched to wide receiver in a move that bolstered the team.

On his TD catch, Elliott caught the pass in stride at the Torreys' 39 and then raced the rest of the way down the right sideline to increase Army-Navy's lead to 20-7 with 8:13 left in the third quarter.

The Warriors added an 8-yard TD reception by Derrick Buchanan with 5:17 to go.

Brown rushed for 120 yards in the first half, including a 38-yard effort on a fourth-and-1 play to set up the score that gave the Warriors a 13-7 halftime lead.

“This is a team sport, and my teammates are my brothers,” said Brown, a junior in his first varsity season. “This is the best that I've felt in years.”

LJCD's Allen finished with 158 yards on 24 carries.

The Torreys opened the scoring on a 5-yard run by Allen to complete their first possession. In response, Brown followed with a 1-yard TD run to tie the score with 1:40 left in the first quarter.

LJCD advanced to the Warriors' 5 in the second period, but the drive ended when Army-Navy's Dillon Kidd recovered a fumble.