A second half rally came up short as the Chestnut Hill College football team dropped their season finale to Mansfield university 42-30 Saturday night at A.A. Garthwaite Stadium in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.

The Griffins finish their season with a 2-5 record.  Mansfield closed out their 2023 campaign with a 4-3 mark.

Prior to the game, the football program and the Athletics Department honored 11 seniors who were playing in their final game for the Griffins. In a brief ceremony, each senior was presented with a Chestnut Hill blanket and a jersey by athletic director Jesse Balcer and coach Gio Thomas.  The 11 seniors honored were tight end Nick Ocampo; wide receivers Blaec Sanders and Calvin Turner, running back Tyler Smith; quarterback C.J. Small; offensive lineman Chris Strehl; punter Jason Chedester;  cornerback Tyheem Bailey; defensive lineman Larry Fonville; defensive back Colin Circello and student coach Jon Oister.

Small completed 22 of 48 passes for 239 yards in the game with three touchdowns.  Ocampo had nine receptions for 118 yards and a 25-yard touchdown catch. Sanders added two catches on the night. Zyier Pannell led the Griffins' ground game with 52 yards rushing.

Bailey and Fonville had five tackles apiece while Circello added two.  Jonathan Havrilak led the team with nine tackles.

Trailing 35-10 in the third quarter, the Griffins scored twice in the final six minutes of the period to close within 11, 35-24. 

Pannell returned a kickoff 77 yards to the Mountaineers three-yard line and three plays later Lawrence Howard ran the ball in from a yard out for the score.  Brady Reynolds followed with the extra point to make the score 35-17.

The Griffins then went for an onside kick and recovered the ball at midfield.  Small completed a 24-yard pass to Ocampo and two plays later found Kyree Griffin open for an 11-yard touchdown reception for the Griffins second score of the quarter.

Mansfield tacked on their final score I the fourth quarter before Small connected with Ocampo with the senior quarterback's third touchdown pass of the night.  The two point conversion attempt was unsuccessful, and the Griffins trailed 42-30.

The Griffins forced a three-and-out to regain possession and were driving deep into Mansfield territory before turning the ball over on a fumble which was returned 64 yards to the Griffins' 30-yard line with 2:45 left in the game.  The Mountaineers were then able to run out the clock.

Mansfield jumped out to a 6-0 lead on their first play of the game as Cahsid Raymond threw a 77-yard touchdown pass.  The Griffins came back on their second possession as Small completed four of five passes with the last one a 10-yard toss to Howard for the touchdown and a 7-6 lead.

The Mountaineers scored twice more to lead 21-7 before Reynolds connected on a 25 yard field goal to make the score 21-10.  MU's Terrence Quaker scored with just over a minute remaining in the half to give the Mountaineers a 28-10 lead at halftime.

Quaker caught a touchdown pass from Raymond in the third quarter to give the Mountaineers their largest lead at 35-10 before the Griffins started their comeback attempt, which wound up falling short.