Box Score Conshohocken, Pa. - (9/16/2017) – On a late summer night, the Chestnut Hill College sprint football team welcomed the Scarlet and Gold faithful and the United States Naval Academy (Navy) to their first of four contests at A.A. Garthwaite Stadium in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. The Griffins marched down the field for a field goal on their opening drive and used a forced fumble from junior defensive end Josean Perez (Bethlehem, Pa.) and fumble return for a touchdown from junior defensive tackle Kevin Meredith (Germantown, Md.) to tie the contest late in the first half (2:36 2QTR). Unfortunately, Navy scored a field goal before intermission, 13-10, and doubled the Griffins output in the second half for a 27-17 victory. The Griffins' fourth quarter touchdown pass was caught by junior wide receiver Reggie Robinson Jr. (Washington, DC) (8:56), who totaled a team-high 86 yards on four receptions.

 

Chestnut Hill College (0-1, 0-1) got the home crowd behind them early with a strong first-quarter performance. The Griffins took the opening kick from their own 29 yard line to the Navy (1-0, 1-0) nine yard line thanks in part to a ground game mix of junior Raevon Floyd-Bennett (Union City, N.J.) and sophomore Jonathan Barber (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and a 37-yard connection from sophomore quarterback Michael Marino (Blue Bell, Pa.) to Robinson, 3-0 (7:07 1QTR). The Midshipmen matched the effort, using a 46-yard kick return to start their first drive at the 50-yard line and scoring a 34-yard field goal to tie the affair at 3-3 (3:35 1QTR). Chestnut Hill College's next possession ended with an unsuccessful fourth-down play at the Navy 34-yard line and was followed by a 10-play Midshipmen drive that gained 66 yards on the ground and ended with a one-yard plunge six minutes after it started, 10-3 (8:04 2QTR). The visitors looked to do the same on their next possession, but crushing sack from Perez put the ball on the grass for a 44-yard touchdown recovery from Meredith, 10-10. Penalties plagued the Griffins on the Midshipmen's ensuing possession. The infractions allowed the visitors to capture a 3-0 halftime lead with a 37-yard boot through the uprights, 13-10 (2:36 2QTR).
 
Navy used the opening possession of the second half to extend their lead to 20-10 (10:51 3QTR) on a 24-yard rush from junior quarterback Brandon Coleman (Yonkers, N.Y.). After a brief Griffin drive, the Midshipmen made it 27-10 with another ground-heavy drive that put the ball in the hands of sophomore Luis Castillo (Mason, Texas) and freshman Stefano Saragusa (Haines City, Fla.) for a majority of the 67-yard series that separated the visitors for a 27-10 lead (14:57 4QTR). Robinson's late fourth-quarter touchdown grab kept the Griffins in the game, 27-17 (8:56), but eventually left the Scarlet and Gold short on time as their final possession concluded at the Navy two-yard line with the score unchanged.
 
Coleman led the Midshipmen with 74 yards on the ground and 76 yard in the air. He averaged 5.7 yards-per-carry and completed 5-of-8 (62.5%) passes. Saragusa added 57 yards and Castillo another 38 yards to Navy's 264-yard rushing effort. Junior linebacker Dean Rye (Fairfax. Va.) led the defense with eight tackles.
 
Marino totaled 183 yards on 12 (12-of-22, 54.5%) completions. Floyd-Bennett topped the Griffins' rushing yardage with 23 yards on 10 carries (2.3 yards/carry) and caught three passes for nine yards, while Robinson headlined the wide receiver ranks. Perez led the defense with plenty of help from junior tackle Brian Layden (Springfield, Pa.), junior linebacker Jonathan Baldwin (Hudson, N.H.), and sophomore linebacker Mike McIllhenney (Philadelphia, Pa.), who all recorded seven tackles in the contest.
 
The Chestnut Hill College sprint football team returns to A.A. Garthwaite Stadium next Friday, September 22, for a 7:00 p.m. contest against reigning league champions, the University of Pennsylvania.