ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy sprint football team (6-0) welcomes Caldwell (4-3) to Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Friday evening at 6:00 p.m. The game will be live streamed on Navy Athletics YouTube and live stats will be available.
 
The game will serve as Senior Day and the Midshipmen will recognize its 16 senior players – Julian Armstrong, Jensen Boyt, Elijah Brown, Seamas Carrasco, Owen Erker, Brandon Fletchall, Aaron Harris, Kerry Johnson, Peter McKissack, Tyler Meisenzahl, Jake Rodriguez, Bobby Rudzki, John Sheddy, Grant Sterchi, Manny Walt, and Jake Wolinski – prior to the game.
 
Additionally, student support staff members – Richard Brown, Jacob Cahill, Adam Schweitzer, and Tyler Turner – will also be recognized.
 
All-Time Series
Navy holds the all-time series lead against Caldwell, 6-0 (1.000). The Midshipmen are 2-0 all-time against the Cougars in Annapolis with a 4-0 mark in West Caldwell, N.J.
 
The Mids opened the series winning the first meeting between the two teams, 72-0, in Annapolis in 2017. The next three games were in West Caldwell, N.J. with Navy claiming three victories – W, 45-14 in 2018; W, 23-10 in 2019; and W, 26-13 in 2022. In 2023, the Midshipmen posted a 35-19 win over the Cougars at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Last year, the Midshipmen broke a scoreless tie with 33 seconds remaining in the first half and proceeded to score 28 straight en route to a 14-point victory, 28-14.
 
Scouting the Midshipmen
Navy enters the weekend 6-0 on the season. The Mids improved to 6-0 on the season with a 36-21 road victory over Penn at historic Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pa. The defense registered a safety and picked off four Quaker passes, while the Midshipmen offense added three rushing touchdowns to go along with a pair of passing TDs in a total team effort.
 
The offense has accounted for 2,287 yards of total offense with 1,444 yards on the ground and 843 through the air. The Mids are averaging 381.2 yards per game and 6.7 yards per play.
 
Hunter Gennicks leads the rushing attack with 920 yards through six games with 10 rushing touchdowns. The junior is averaging 153.3 yards per game and 7.9 yards per carry. He is followed by Broderick Freeman who has 311 yards on the ground with a five TDs.
 
Starting quarterback Luke O'Connell is 58-for-97 for 795 yards and nine touchdowns, while rushing the ball 15 times for 88 yards and two TDs. Jake Berger leads the team with 283 receiving yards on a team-high 18 receptions with three touchdowns. He is followed by Grant Sterchi who has 199 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 185.8 yards per game and 59 total points (9.8 per game). Navy has recorded 58 tackles for loss with 12 sacks, while picking off 10 passes, breaking up 20 pass attempts, and adding 11 fumble recoveries.
 
Jake Wolinski, Sam Stotler, Connor Miltenberger, Seamas Carrasco, Christian Conley lead the team in tackles. Wolinski has a team-high 50 tackles, while Stotler follows with 31. Miltenberger, Carrasco, and Conley add 30, 28, and 24, correspondingly to close out Navy's top five tacklers. Stotler leads the team with 8.0 TFLs with Mick Tabor and Wolinski adding 7.0 tackles for loss apiece. Tyler Meisenzhal has a team high 3.0 sacks with Tabor following with 2.0 and Miltenberger adding 1.5 sacks. Tucker Opdahl paces the defense with three interceptions with Wolinski and Owen Erker adding two INTs each. Ten (10) different Mids have forced a fumble with Conley and Gabriel Arriola leading the team with two apiece. Nine (9) Navy players have picked up fumble recoveries, including Tabor who leads the team with three fumble recoveries.
 
Scouting the Opponent
Caldwell enters the weekend 4-3 overall. The Cougars have won three of their last four games, defeating St. Thomas Aquinas (W, 34-6), Molloy (W, 40-7), and Cornell (W, 20-13), while dropping a game to Army (L, 31-7).
 
Offensively, Curt McDougald and Jameil Lawrence lead the rushing attack with 251 and 209 yards on the ground, respectively, while Kyano Jimenez follows with 113 rushing yards. McDougald and Jimenez have a team-high two rushing touchdowns apiece, while Lawrence adds a rushing TD. Lawrence is 79-for-141 for 1054 yards and 11 touchdowns with seven interceptions through the air, while Cael Zebrowski is 26-for-53 for 414 with four TDs and an INT. Josh Smith has seen time in six games, going 16-for-33 with a touchdown and two picks. Caldwell's primary targets are Arjun Petgrave, Darius Harrison, Joey Ciccotelli, and Smith. Petgrave, Harrison, and Ciccotelli have seven receptions apiece for 505, 353, and 341 yards, respectively, while Smith adds six catches for 312 yards. Petgrave leads the team with six touchdown receptions with Harrison, Ciccotelli, and Smith adding three TD grabs apiece.
 
Defensively, Damian Tavares leads the team with 59 total tackles, while Hector Lopez III and Trever Stevenson follow with 47 and 42 stops. Stevenson leads the team with 13.0 tackles for loss and boasts a team-high 3.5 sacks. JJ Hinnant paces the squad with three interceptions and six pass breakups with Dean Fiore adding a pair of INTs. Five different players have forced fumbles with six different Cougars registering a fumble recovery.
 
Last Time vs. Caldwell (Nov. 9, 2024)
Navy improved to 6-1 on the season and 3-0 in the Collegiate Sprint Football League South Division with a 28-14 victory over Caldwell at Bonnel Field in West Caldwell, N.J. The Midshipmen broke a scoreless tie with 33 seconds remaining in the first half and proceeded to score 28 straight en route to a 14-point victory.
 
Navy finished the game with 201 total yards on 58 yards rushing and 143 yards passing, while Caldwell tallied 292 passing yards with 50 yards rushing for 342 total yards. The Mids' defense recorded four interceptions to thwart the Cougars' offense and set up the Midshipmen with excellence field position.
 
Luke Wagner finished the game 11-for-20 for 114 yards with three touchdowns. Backup quarterback Luke O'Connell completed one pass for 29 yards in relief.
 
Biamungu Nkere led the team with three receptions for 53 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Chris Stumpf also finished with three catches, tallying 21 yards and a touchdown. Jackson Suddath hauled in a pair of receptions for 47 yards, while Jake Berger added three catches for 24 yards.
 
Broderick Freeman led the team with 26 yards rushing, while Hunter Gennicks added 24 yards on the ground.
 
Defensively, Navy finished the game with 12 tackles for loss, five sacks, four interceptions, and three pass breakups. The Midshipmen held the Cougars on 12 of 19 third down attempts and six of eight fourth down tries.
 
Jake Wolinski led the way with 12 total tackles, including five solo stops, and 1.5 tackles for loss. Sam Stotler added nine stops with 1.5 tackles for loss and a half a sack. David Niski notched six stops including 3.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. Major Kent and Mick Tabor joined Wolinski and Stotler with 1.5 TFLs Tabor and Simon Burger were credited with sacks with Stotler combining for a sack.
 
Tyler Cox and Seamus Carrasco both picked off a pair of passes, while Carrasco added a pass breakup. Burger and Sean Bettwy also broke up passes on the night.
 
Up Next
Following the game with Caldwell, Navy concludes the season in West Point as the Midshipmen take on Army in the annual Star Game, which is part of the overall Army-Navy Star Series, presented by USAA. The game is set for 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 15 at Shea Stadium.