Nineteen unanswered points by St. Thomas Aquinas college erased a slim Chestnut Hill College lead as the Spartans went on to defeat the Griffins 46-28 in sprint football action Friday night in Hillburn New York.

The Griffins fall to 1-2 with the loss while the Spartans improve to 2-1.

Chestnut Hill had taken a slim 28-27 lead following a Kindrik Branch touchdown reception with four minutes remaining in the third quarter.  The Spartans secured good field positions following the kickoff and return and needed just five plays to drive 59 yards and retake the lead 33-28 with just 1:24 left in the quarter.

The Spartans added 13 more points in the final ten minutes of the game with a touchdown and two field goals to put the game out of reach.

Griffins' quarterback Anthony Cancellare completed 17 passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns.  He also had an eight yard run in the first quarter for another Griffins' score.  Lawrence Howard V also had a rushing touchdown.

Five different receivers caught at least two passes for the Griffins with Nick Ocampo and Kyree Griffin catching four apiece.  Xavier Hendricks added three catches including a 6-yard touchdown reception while Nazier Bryant and Branch had two apiece with Branch accoutning for CHC's other touchdown catch.

Miles Coates and Zyier Pannell led the ground game with 45 and 43 yards respectively.

Defensively, Abraham Kamara had nine tackles while Lex Williams added eight.  Williams and Jerry Clark combined for a sack early in the game with Amir Jenkins and Williams combining for one in the second quarter.

STAC struck early as the Griffins fumbled the ball on their own six yard line on their first possession and the Spartans scored immediately on the next play on a pass from STAC QB Ryan Kenny to take a 7-0 lead.

Hendricks' touchdown capped off a 15-play 74 yard drive on Chestnut Hill's next possession to tie the game at 7-7.  The Spartans followed with a touchdown on their next possession on a big play from Jayden Bennerman who had an 82 yard run after the Griffins' defense had pushed the Spartans back deep into their own territory.  Bennerman's touchdown gave STAC a 14-7 lead.

Cancellare's touchdown capped a wild first quarter that saw both teams score two touchdown's apiece on alternating possessions, sending the game into the second quarter tied at 14-14.

Chestnut Hill took their first lead of the game, 21-14, on a short two-yard run by Howard.  Howard's touchdown completed a 13-play, 83-yard drive for the Griffins.

The Spartans tied the game on their next possession with Kenny connecting with Bennerman for his second touchdown catch of the night – this one for 59 yards to make the score 21-21 with 7:38 left in the first half.  Neither team scored and the two teams went into the locker room deadlocked at 21-21.

STAC retook the lead on their first possession of the third quarter 27-21.  Williams blocked the extra-point attempt.  Branch's touchdown catch with four minutes remaining in the third quarter gave the Griffins their final lead 28-27 before the Spartan scoring spree began.

CHC's Jason Chedester had a 61-yard punt late in the fourth quarter, becoming the second player in program history to record two punts of 60+ yards in their career.

Kenny finished the game with 342 yards passing and five touchdowns to lead the Spartans while Bennerman caught three TD passes and ran for a fourth.  Bennerman led the team with 97 yards rushing.  Nyir Jones had six catches to pace STAC.

The Chestnut Hill College Sprint Football team returns to action on Saturday October 14, 2023, when they host Mansfield University at A.A Garthwaite Stadium in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.  Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m.