Army, Christiansen enjoy a historical win
Published 3:53 pm Monday, December 24, 2018
- Cole Christiansen finished his junior season second in tackles with 77. He finished first on the team with tackles for losses with 12. (Army photo)
Army defeated the University of Houston 70-14 to win the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl and make history on Saturday.
Suffolk native Cole Christiansen and his Army teammates played a nearly flawless game last Saturday in the Armed Forces Bowl. The 70 points Army scored as a team tied for the highest output for a team in a bowl game, and their 56-point margin of victory tied for the biggest margin of a bowl win in history. At halftime, they led 42-7.
Christensen finished the game with six total tackles, but the win was a cherry on top for the season the junior has had. He gave credit to Houston for being a good team, but he knew Army played a game that was going to be hard to top.
“It was fun being able to win with such authority,” he said. “That whole week was a fun experience just being around the guys. Houston is a great team. We just played really well as a team.”
The former Nansemond-Suffolk Academy standout will finish his season with some big accomplishments. In the offseason, he was voted one of the team captains, which is a rare feat as a junior there. He then went on to help Army achieve an 11-2 record, the most wins in the school’s history. He finished second on the team with 77 tackles. One of the goals was to make a bowl game and win it and to finish within the top 25 of the Associated Press national poll. It’s safe to say Army has cemented that as well.
“This season was incredible, and I am so honored to have had the chance to do it,” he said. “I love having the opportunity to speak on my team’s behalf and being able to lead the guys I have so much respect for.”
Christiansen has already started thinking about the things he wants to accomplish with his team during his senior campaign. He believes the team can be even better than it was this year.