ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy sprint football team (5-0) travels to the City of Brotherly Love to take on Penn (1-4) on Saturday, Nov. 1 at 3:00 p.m. at historic Franklin Field. The game will be live streamed on Stretch Internet and live stats will be available.
 
All-Time Series
Navy holds the all-time series lead against Penn, 78-8-2 (.898). The Midshipmen are 40-4 (.909) all-time against the Quakers in Philadelphia.
 
The Mids opened the series winning 57 of the first 61 meetings with a pair of ties in that stretch. The Quakers put together a three-game winning streak from 1998-00 – their longest winning streak in the series – before the Midshipmen won 15 of the next 16 games. Penn won back-to-back games in 2016 and 2017. In 2017 – the first year the CSFL split into divisions – the win gave the Quakers the CSFL South Division title and propelled them into the championship game. Navy has won the last six meetings, securing the CSFL South Division and advancing to the championship game in 2018, '19,'21, '22, '23, and '24.
 
Scouting the Midshipmen
Navy enters the weekend 5-0 on the season. The Mids rolled to a 63-0 shutout over Molloy last week at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis. The Midshipmen tallied 574 yards of total offense, while holding the Lions to just 57 total yards.
 
The offense has accounted for 1,942 yards of total offense with 1331 yards on the ground and 611 through the air. The Mids are averaging 388.4 yards per game and 7.0 yards per play.
 
Hunter Gennicks leads the rushing attack with 852 yards through five games with 10 rushing touchdowns. The junior is averaging 170.4 yards per game and 8.7 yards per carry. He is followed by Broderick Freeman who has 288 yards on the ground with a three TDs.
 
Starting quarterback Luke O'Connell is 39-for-68 for 563 yards and seven touchdowns, while rushing the ball nine times for 70 yards and a TD. Jake Berger leads the team with 229 receiving yards on a team-high 14 receptions with two touchdowns. He is followed by Grant Sterchi who has 193 yards receiving with three TD catches. Gennicks has added 41 yards receiving on seven grabs with a pair of TDs, while Jon Malatesta also adds two receiving TDs.
 
Defensively, the Mids have held its opponents to just 173.6 yards per game and 38 total points (7.6 per game). Navy has recorded 48 tackles for loss with 11 sacks, while picking off six passes, breaking up 14 pass attempts, and adding 11 fumble recoveries.
 
Jake Wolinski, Sam Stotler, Connor Miltenberger, and Seamas Carrasco lead the team in tackles. Wolinski has a team-high 38 tackles, while Stotler follows with 29. Miltenberger and Carrasco add 28 and 24 to close out Navy's 20-plus tacklers. Stotler leads the team with 8.0 TFLs with Mick Tabor adding 6.5 tackles for loss and Wolinski following with 5.5 TFLs. Tabor and Tyler Meisenzhal have a team high 2.0 sacks apiece with Miltenberger adding 1.5 sacks. Wolinski and Owen Erker lead the team with two interceptions each, while Tucker Opdahl and Jake Frazier add a pick apiece. Ten (10) different Mids have forced a fumble with Gabriel Arriola leading the team with two. Nine (9) Navy players have picked up fumble recoveries, including Tabor who leads the team with three fumble recoveries.
 
Scouting the Opponent
Penn enters the weekend 1-4 overall. The Quakers dropped a tight 3-0 matchup at Chestnut Hill last weekend.
 
Offensively, Xavier May IV leads the rushing attack with 158 yards on the ground with a touchdown, while JT Goodman follows with 112 rushing yards. Jaxson Nield is 34-for-73 for 373 yards and four touchdowns with three interceptions through the air, while Josh Johnson is 18-for-46 for 212 with four INTs. Penn's primary targets are Jake Wang and Jason Sheairs who have 19 and 13 receptions, respectively. Wang leads the team with 218 receiving yards and a touchdown with Sheairs adding 209 yards and a pair of TDs.
 
Defensively, Colin Cross leads the team with 37 total tackles, while Ryan Goodrich and Hugh Maley add 27 stops apiece. Gavin Griswold rounds out the Quakers' 20-tackle performers with 24. Luke Pajovich leads the team with 4.0 tackles for loss and is tied for the team lead with 1.0 sacks, while Johnson paces the squad with four interceptions and three different players have one fumble recovery each.
 
Athlete of the Week
The Collegiate Sprint Football League (CSFL) announced its weekly accolades and Navy student-athletes Hunter Gennicks and Drake Murrell were recognized for their efforts in the Mids' 63-0 victory over Molloy over the weekend. Gennicks was named Offensive Player of the Week, while Murrell was tabbed Rookie of the Week.
 
Gennicks led the rushing attack, finishing with 174 yards on 14 carries with three touchdowns. Led by the junior running back, the Midshipmen tallied 574 yards of total offense on 57 total plays for an average of 10.1 yards per play, rushing for 449 yards. Gennicks had a touchdown in each of the first three quarters of the game, notching a 10-yard TD run in the first; a 55-yard touchdown rush in the second; and a seven-yard plunge into the end zone in the third. With three games remaining in the season, Gennicks has already tied his rushing touchdown total from last season of 10.
 
Murrell helped lead the Navy defense to its first shutout of the season. The freshman finished with five total tackles (all solo), including a team-high 4.0 tackles for loss. The rookie accounted for 44.4-percent of the Midshipmen's 9.0 tackles for loss. All five of Murrell's tackles happened in the fourth quarter. Murrell had a tackle on a kickoff return with the other four stops all happening behind the line of scrimmage (-1, -7, -1, and -3) for a combined 12 yards lost by Molloy.
 
Last Time vs. Penn (Nov. 1, 2024)
Navy registered a 31-0 shutout over Penn in a CSFL South Division game at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. With the win, the Midshipmen secured a spot in the CSFL Championship game on Saturday, Nov. 16 in West Point, N.Y.
 
The game served as Senior Day and the Midshipmen recognized its 14 senior players – Andrew Bailey, Simon Burger, Tyler Cox, Robert Flores, Tyron Francis Jr., Andy Jones, Major Kent, Lane Landas, Andres McCann, David Niski, Chris Stumpf, Jackson Suddath, Jonathan Swift, and Luke Wagner – prior to the game.
 
Additionally, student support staff members J.P. Albrecht, Maharlika Archuleta, Garrett King, Madison O'Donnell, and Will Sanchez were also be recognized.
 
Navy finished the game with 437 yards of total offense, while holding Penn to 42 total yards. The Midshipmen passed for 286 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for 151 yards and a score.
 
Senior offensive captain Luke Wagner finished the game 16-for-26 for 285 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns. His primary target was fellow senior Chris Stumpf, who finished the game with a team-high seven receptions for 168 yards and a score. Ibi Denson added 57 receiving yards on four receptions with Biamungu Nkere added 39 yards on a pair of catches. Jake Berger made his one reception count, pulling down a seven-yard touchdown reception. Hunter Gennicks led the team with 135 rushing with a pair of touchdowns.
 
Defensively, the Mids held the Quakers scoreless, limiting the previously undefeated team to 42 total yards of offense. The Navy defense held the Penn offense to -4 yards rushing and 46 yards passing. The Mids finished the game with 9.0 tackles for loss, including 6.0 sacks, while adding four pass breakups. Sam Stotler led the team with nine tackles, including a sack, while Jake Wolinski and Mick Tabor added seven stops apiece. Tabor added 2.0 tackles for loss, including a sack, while David Niski led the team with 2.5 sacks. Simon Burger and Major Kent each added 1.5 TFLs with Burger finishing with a sack and Kent combining for a QB sack. Andrew Bailey also added a half a tackle for loss in the game. Tyler Cox, Sean Bettwy, Burger and Kent broke up passes in the game.
 
Up Next
Following the game with Penn, Navy returns to Annapolis for its final home game of the 2025 season as the Midshipmen welcome Caldwell to Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Friday, Nov. 7. The game is slated for 6:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast on Navy Athletics YouTube and live stats will be available.