WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Navy sprint football team (6-2) dropped a 21-16 decision to Army (8-0) on Saturday afternoon at Shea Stadium in West Point, N.Y. in the Collegiate Sprint Football League Championship. The loss snapped the Mids' streak of three consecutive CSFL Championship victories.
 
"I'm proud of the way our team played," head coach Captain Carter Reading, USMC stated. "They fought hard until the end and we were in it until the end. We have a lot to build off of for next season and we have some young talent that we as coaches are excited to see grow. The coaching staff worked incredibly hard from the top down, Jim McNeal to our scout players as well as our new addition Chuck Abate on the offensive side. The players showed how tough Navy sprint football is and kept fighting whether we were winning or losing. We're looking forward to playing Army again. The fight for next year's N-Star and the CSFL Championship has already begun."

Navy finished the game with 318 yards of total offense, while holding Army to 235 total yards. The Midshipmen edged the Black Knights, 139-to-131, in rushing, while posting 179 yards through the air compared to the home team's 104 passing yards.
 
Senior offensive team captain and starting quarterback Luke Wagner led the team with 67 yards rushing, while finishing the game 17-for-35 for 156 yards through the air. He connected on a pair of touchdown throws to Chris Stumpf and Biamungu Nkere, but was hampered by a pair of interceptions.
 
Stumpf led the receiving corps with four catches for 63 yards and a touchdown. Nkere and Hunter Gennicks each hauled in four passes with Nkere finishing with 42 yards and a score and Gennicks closing out the game with 31 yards receiving.
 
Gennicks joined Wagner atop the Navy rushing list. The sophomore finished with 64 yards rushing on a team-high 20 carries. Ibi Denson and Broderick Freeman combined for eight yards on four total carries.
 
Defensively, the Midshipmen finished with five tackles for loss, one sack, and two pass breakups. Sam Stotler led the charge with 11 tackles, including seven solo stops and a tackle for loss. Tyler Cox contributed six tackles with Jack Wolinski following with five take downs. Senior defensive captain Andrew Bailey, Major Kent, and Tucker Opdahl joined Stotler with a TFL apiece, while David Niski and Mick Tabor combined for tackles for loss. Bailey and Niski combined for the Mids' sack of the Black Knight quarterback and Angelo Pearson was credited with a pair of pass breakups.
 
Army's Kyle West finished the game 8-for-16 for 104 yards passing, while Arthur Lavalais led the Black Knights with 98 yards rushing and all three touchdowns. Weber Karsay and Zion Sims finished with 14 and 11 tackles, respectively, with Sims recording two tackles for loss and Karsay adding a TFL. Army's defense added 10 pass breakups and intercepted a pair of passes on the day.
 
In the kicking game, freshman Jacori Sutton set a new career-best mark, connecting on a 48-yard field goal attempt in the second quarter to give the Mids a brief 10-7 lead.
 
A promising opening drive from Army was halted with a third-down sack by Navy's Bailey and Niski, while the Mids' first drive ended in a three-and-out. Devon Brown's big 42-yard reception set up the game's first score, which was capped off by Lavalais' one-yard rushing touchdown to put Army up, 7-0. After driving down the field and pinning the Black Knights deep, the Navy defense was able to stuff the Army offense as the first quarter ended.
 
Beginning the second quarter with the ball, the Mids struck quick when Wagner hit Stumpf in stride for a 37-yard touchdown pass to bring the game even at 7-7. Stopping Army again, Navy capitalized on the change of possession with a career-best 48-yard field goal by Sutton. However, the Black Knights answered quickly after Parker Williams' 45-yard long kick return set up the home team deep in Midshipmen territory. Lavalais' second rushing touchdown of the game gave the lead back to the home team, 14-10. Navy caught a break as the next Army drive ended with a missed field goal from Nicholas Cueto, keeping the game close.
 
A failed throwback on the second-half kickoff from Navy hindered its drive and Army was able to extend the lead when Lavalais broke off a 39-yard run for his third touchdown of the day. The Black Knights then snuffed out a driving Navy offense when a tipped pass was intercepted by William Sayler.
 
The Midshipmen pulled to within five with a touchdown less than a minute into the fourth quarter. The 20-yard throw and catch from Wagner to Nkere in the end zone made the score 21-16. The two-point conversion was no good, but left the Mids within striking distance.
 
The two teams traded possessions with Navy getting the ball back at its own 15-yardline with 96 seconds to play. The Midshipmen were helped by a Black Knight pass interference to move the ball 15 yards down the field, however, an interception gave Army the ball back and allowed the home team to run out the clock.
 
Navy finished the season 6-2 overall, including a 3-0 mark in the CSFL South Division. The Midshipmen advanced to the CSFL Championship game for the sixth time (2018, '19, '21, '22, '23, '24) in program history since the League split into divisions in 2017.