Bob Jones graduate Christian Hess #26 played for Army Sprint football team this season. (Contributed)

MADISON- Bob Jones graduate and former football player Christian Hess will be among the 70,000 in attendance at Saturday’s 114^th annual renewal of Army vs Navy. The game will be in Baltimore at M&T Bank Stadium.

Hess is a first-year cadet at West Point. Last May, he signed an athletic scholarship to attend the US Military Academy. He has been playing on the Army Sprint football team this season and quickly established himself as a starter on defense. His team went 7-1.

He had an interception against Penn University in Army’s 47-7 win at historic Franklin Field in Philadelphia. Hess is 5-foot-11, 175 pounds.

At Bob Jones, Hess shined his senior season as a cornerback and caught the eye of recruiters. He set a school and state high school record with interceptions in five straight games. After the season he was named All-region.

Saturday, Hess won’t be on the field. He will be among the Corps of Cadets marching into the stadium two hours before kickoff. And he will be yelling and cheering for Army to break a 12 year losing streak to Navy.

“I had no idea how big this rivalry was until I came up here,” Hess said. “If we only won one game and that was against Navy then our season was a success. The Army Navy rivalry is just as big as Auburn and Alabama. People are crazy about it. As a plebe (freshman) I greet upperclassmen with Beat Navy Sir.”

Hess was granted leave and returned to Madison over Thanksgiving. He attended the Auburn-Alabama game.

His father Doug is an Auburn graduate and among his hobbies he is an acclaimed sports artist. His mother Gloria is an Alabama graduate.

On the day of the Army-Navy game, Hess will get up at 3:30 a.m. After formation and breakfast, the cadets load buses and leave at 6 a.m. They get to Baltimore at 10:30 and wait. They march into the stadium at noon. The game will kick at 2 p.m. and is televised on CBS.

Even with the scholarship, Hess had to meet the high academic levels to enter West Point. He scored a 28 on the ACT. He is majoring Mechanical Engineering.

“I am taking Calculus, History, Chemistry, Psychology, and Military Science. Classes have been pretty tough so far. It is a lot thrown at you but it has been a little better since my season ended,” he said.

Sprint football is a Division 1 sport and plays in an eight team league based in the northeast. It is not affiliated with the Army football team. It counts as the one required sport each cadet must participate in.

Hess makes a play against Navy in Sprint football Army lost 27-7

Home games are played in Shea Stadium on campus. It is a multi-purpose facility used by track and field and lacrosse.

As for his chances of one day playing for the Army Black Knight football team, Hess said it would be a dream come true. He has been here before.

He proved he could play at Bob Jones when many considered him a longshot. Can he do it again, time will tell.