Army-Navy: More than a game

Steve Carp

Tuesday, Dec. 1, 1998 | 10:24 a.m.

WEST POINT, N.Y. -- It has been a tough year here on the bluffs overlooking the Hudson River.

The Army football team is suffering its second straight losing season at 2-8. After being an independent since 1890, the Cadets affiliated with Conference USA, and the league provided Army with its only two wins.

Normally, 2-8 doesn't get you a bowl bid. But no matter how well or how poorly it fares, Army has a bowl game the first Saturday every December. A win over 3-7 Navy at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia will ease a lot of the pain of the past 10 weeks.

To much of America, Army-Navy may not hold the same meaning it did a couple of generations ago. But try telling that to a player who looks across the field and sees Saddam Hussein in a gold helmet for three hours or so.

So Nate Hunterton will get those visions as he tightens his chin strap an extra notch for the three-hour war that is Army-Navy.

"It's two cultures fixed on victory," said Hunterton, a 6-foot, 216-pound junior linebacker. "It's so hard because neither team expects defeat."

The former Bishop Gorman High School standout has had a very good season. He is third in tackles with 66 and has one interception. He also plays on special teams, which Saturday will be akin to volunteering for a suicide mission.

Hunterton remembers last year's game as if it were yesterday. He and his comrades were on the losing end of a 39-7 score at Giants Stadium. His images are a blur of screams, grunts and groans, with some tears sprinkled in for good measure.

"I see (Navy) jersey numbers every time I lift (weights)," he said. "I remember all the yelling and how loud it was. The further from it, the less you understand."

The Midshipmen had not beaten Army in five years before the meeting in the Meadowlands. But a 23-point second quarter keyed by three Chris McCoy touchdowns made for not only a long bus ride back to West Point, but a long winter, spring and summer.

The loser of this game is reminded daily of the result. That can wear on the soul.

"You find a common ground," Hunterton said of what he and his teammates have had to endure. "But for everyone here, this game means everything."

Like many people, Hunterton grew up watching Army-Navy on television. He saw the pageantry, the excitement and the competitiveness this game brings out and it was part of the reason he chose to attend West Point.

At first, he was trying to keep his head above water. Not only is football demanding, but there are academics as well as military obligations that have to be met. You're a soldier and a student first. Everything else, football included, comes after.

"I felt I needed to get away from home. I needed to see something else," he said. "But I struggled when I first got here. I wasn't sure West Point was going to be the best thing for me.

"But I gave myself a year and I wasn't going to let it beat me."

Hunterton worked harder in the classroom. As a soldier, he worked his way up to squad leader. And on the football field, he impressed coach Bob Sutton with his willingness to compete and not give in.

"I tried to surround myself with good people," Hunterton said.

The decision to tough it out paid off. He posted a 3.0 grade-point average last semester in general management. He had a great spring on the football field and has played regular minutes all season.

Now, if he can just even the score from last December.

"One of the reasons I came here was the football team has an appetite for victory," he said. "The biggest thing is winning. To help 100 guys be a winner today means so much."

Hunterton has had to make sacrifices to whet his appetite for victory, which he says is no big deal. His is a strict regimen, beginning with reveille at 6:30 a.m. and not concluding until midnight when he's through studying.

In between, he's attending classes, going to football practice, attending team meetings, handling his military responsibilities and trying to eat.

"There's not a lot of down time," he said. "We have a lot more responsibilities than other athletes have. But we have fewer distractions."

Hunterton knew what was expected when he chose West Point. And he also knows what life down the road holds for him. He will have a five-year military obligation to fulfill once he graduates. After that, he hopes to become a successful businessman.

He has a pretty good role model in Steve Wynn.

"One day, I want to go into business and run my own corporation," he said. "I worked at The Mirage as a pool attendant and I was so amazed at how a person could create a fantasy world like that."

But all of that will have to wait. There's some unfinished business on the football field to attend to come Saturday.