ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy sprint football team (4-1, 2-0) posted a 48-7 victory over Chestnut Hill (1-4, 1-2) in a Collegiate Sprint Football League South Division match up on Friday night at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The game served as Navy's Senior Day and the senior class helped propel the Midshipmen to the decisive victory.
 
Navy recognized its 22 seniors – Brandon Atwood, Liam Brown, Dante Carrasco, Jack Costigan, Luke Eleftheriou, Nadir Emlemdi, Mychal Golden, Andrew Henderson, Eli Holloman, Angelo Labbe, Jobe Long, Andrew Margiotta, Devyn Martin, Tyler Massena, Victor Otero, Patrick Palm, Trent Parker, Weston Reese, Kai Sasaki, Andrew Sowinski, Mitchell Waters, and Ben Witte – prior to the game.
 
"It is always great when we can send our leaders off on a good note," head coach Major Alfonso Meidus, USMC said after the game. "We know we are not done yet, but this was a good way to wrap up the journey hear at home. All week, we preached that they are a large senior class and we need them to step up and lead. They did exactly that here on the field. I am really excited with how they closed it out. Offense. Defense. We played a good four quarters today, which we haven't really put together for a full game up to this point. We will go back look at film; get better where we need to get better; and prepare for Cornell next week."
 
Offensively, Navy tallied 533 yards of total offense in the game, including 366 yards rushing and 167 yards passing. The Midshipmen scored seven touchdowns on the night with seniors accounting for five scores.
 
Atwood finished the night 14-for-17 for 163 yards through the air and four touchdown passes. The senior quarterback added 74 yards rushing to finish as the Mids' second leading rusher on the night. Atwood connected with fellow seniors Long (2x), Otero, and Sasaki for four TDs.
 
Massena rounded out the scoring for the senior class, plunging into the end zone from one yard out. He finished with 64 yards rushing on 14 carries with the score. Freshman Hunter Gennicks led the way on the ground with 115 yards on 10 rushes and a touchdown. Gennicks got most of his yardage in the fourth quarter, helping run out the clock and secure the victory. Junior Luke Wagner finished the night with 44 yards on the ground, finding the end zone on a 30-yard scamper. Additionally, Wagner connected with Long in the end zone on a successful two-point conversion.
 
Defensively, the Midshipmen surrendered 328 yards of total offense on 239 passing yards and 89 yards on the ground with one touchdown in the game. Over the years, Navy and Chestnut Hill have met four times in Annapolis with the Midshipmen defense holding the Griffins scoreless is 15 of 16 quarters of play.
 
Seniors Costigan, Henderson, and Labbe led the way defensively for the Midshipmen. Costigan paced the squad with eight tackles, including a sack, while Henderson and Labbe added seven stops apiece. Niski and Holloman added to the senior output registering a tackle for loss each, while Martin and Sowinski added combined TFLs in the game. Senior Dante Carrasco picked off a Chestnut Hill pass, returning it 81 yards to the Griffin's four yardline, setting up Massena's touchdown.
 
On special teams, Emlemdi was credited with a pair of punt returns for 18 yards. He had a 67-yard punt return for a touchdown, but a penalty brought the ball back to 42 yardline. Navy would go on to score on the drive. Additionally, Golden connected on four point-after touchdown attempts.
 
Navy was the first team to score, breaking the scoreless tie with eight and a half minutes remaining in the first quarter. Atwood found Otero for a 10-yard touchdown to cap a 12-play, 65-yard drive that consumed six and a half minutes on the Mids' opening drive. The extra point was blocked, leaving the score, 6-0.
 
With just under eight minutes to play in the first half, the Midshipmen used a diving catch from Long in the end zone to take a two-score advantage. Long found Wagner in the end zone for the two-point conversion to push the lead to 14-0. Sasaki got in on the scoring, hauling in a 23-yard pass from Atwood to cap an 89-yard drive with 95 seconds remaining in the first half. Golden's kick was true, extending the advantage to 21-0. With 15 seconds remaining in the first half, Chestnut Hill used a one-yard plunge into the end zone from Zyler Pannell to give the Griffins' their first points at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, snapping a 13-quarter drought.
 
In the second half, Atwood once again connected with Long, this time for eight yards to open up a 21-point third quarter. Set up by good field position by Carasco's 81-yard interception return, Massena dove into the checkerboard end zone from one-yard out to extend the advantage to 35-7. After Margiotta – another senior – caught two consecutive passes for 42 yards to bring the ball to the 30 yardline, Wagner hit a hole and jaunted in for the touchdown to extend the advantage to 42-7to close out the third quarter.
 
The Midshipmen closed out the scoring with a 29-yard run by Gennicks in the fourth quarter, providing the final margin of 48-7.
 
The Midshipmen will travel to Cornell for a non-divisional game. The game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 27. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats will be available.