Mack Fell scored a try midway through the second half to put Cal ahead 24-12 and the Golden Bears held on to beat Army 24-19 Saturday in Berkeley.
“We appreciate Army visiting us and we will look forward to returning the fixture at West Point next spring,” Cal Head Coach Jack Clark said.
Cal struck early and, in fact, would never trail in a close game. Hooker Cade Crist spotted a gap in the Army defense and dotted down a try just eight minutes in, with junior flyhalf Rand Santos kicking the conversion.
Four minutes later, the Bears capitalized off their strong set piece to send the ball through the hands to wing Masi Koi, who touched down in the corner.
Army worked their way into Bear territory and Gerge Engels blasted over to get the Black Knights on the scoreboard. Howard Heller added the extras to make it 12-7.
After the restart, a perfectly-placed 50-22 from Santos put the Bears back into scoring position. Cal won the ensuing lineout and sent the forwards to work on the goalline, eventually seeing lock Tom Dixon muscle his way in. Santos converted and it was 17-7 for Cal.
Army threatened to score once more as the first half expired, but Cal held on and the teams entered the break with the score still at 17-7.
