11/9/2001 - Sprint Football
Navy Sprint Football Wins N-Star, CSFL Title at Army
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WEST POINT, N.Y. -- The Navy sprint football team won its 28th Collegiate Sprint Football League (CSFL) title, as well as the N-Star, by defeating host Army, 17-10 in overtime, Friday night at Shea Stadium. The win avenges Navy's lone loss of the season, a 24-7, non-league defeat to the Black Knights Oct. 6 at the 19th-Annual Anthracite Bowl in Blue Mountain, Pa.
The Midshipmen (6-1, 4-0 CSFL) fell behind in the first quarter when Army (5-1, 3-1 CSFL) sophomore quarterback George Feagins got into the end zone from one yard away with 3:21 remaining to give the Black Knights a 7-0 lead.
Navy tied the score before halftime when Antonio Lozada (So./Orland Park, Ill.) ran around the left end and hit pay dirt from three yards away. Charles Nash (Jr./Fairfax, Va.) tacked on the point-after-try kick to know the game at seven apiece.
Nash ran for a 16-yard gain on a faked 45-yard field goal try midway through the third quarter to preserve a Navy drive, giving Navy a first down at the Army 12-yard line. The Mids took the lead when Nash knocked home a 27-yard field goal with 6:15 remaining in the third when Navy failed to capitalize on its trickery.
Following an Austin Wilson punt return to the Navy 29 with 2:29 left in regulation, the Black Knights tied the game at 10 when freshman kicker Kurt Cheeseman (Glenwood, Md. native) drilled a 26-yard field goal with 34 seconds showing on the clock.
After Army won the overtime coin toss, the Mids began the overtime period on the Black Knights' 25. Five plays later, Chris Ashinhurst (So./Stafford, Va.) snuck into the end zone from a yard away to put Navy up 17-10.
On Army's possession of the extra session, the Black Knights faced a 3rd-and-24 at the Navy 39. Backup quarterback Steve McKeon's pass to the left side of the field was picked off by Navy's Jamie Glines (So./Modesto, Calif.) at his own 10-yard line, sending Midshipmen head coach Maj. Austin "Sparky" Renforth out with a CSFL victory in his second, and final, season of coaching.
Linebacker John Collins (So./Toledo, Ohio) stepped up in the final game of the year for Navy, registering 15 tackles (seven solo) and a sack.
"This team did not quit, and I told the guys that I had asked them for a lot throughout the course of the year," said Renforth. "I asked them to win this game for me, knowing that I have to return to my fleet in the summer."
"I can't describe the feeling (of winning the title)," said Ashinhurst. "The defense played an awesome ball game, and we were able to get the 'W' in overtime."
