Friday night marked the tenth season of putting a team on the field for the Chestnut Hill College Sprint Football team and their fifth meeting with Collegiate Sprint Football Leage (CSFL) perennial powerhouse Army. The Griffins gave the home crowd at A.A. Garthwaite Stadium an exciting contest but came up just short as the Black Knights hung on for a 27-21 win.
The 21 points were the most put on the board by the Griffins (0-1) against Army in their five meetings and the 27 points allowed were the fewest given up against the Black Knights (1-0).
Wide receiver Kyree Griffin had a game for the ages, catching six passes for a school-record 189 yards receiving. His receiving yards give him 1,001 for his career, becoming the third player in school history to reach the 1,000 receiving yards milestone, joining Domoree Hill (1,941 from 2015-19) and Reggie Robinson Jr. (1,095 from 2015-18). In addition, Griffin became the first player in program history to have two receptions of 50+ yards in a single game, with two 54-yard catches.
Quarterback Anthony Cancellare began his senior season strong, completing 15 of 27 passes for 331 yards and one touchdown pass. Cancellare also ran for a touchdown.
Defensively Amir Jenkins and Lex Williams led the way with 11 and nine tackles respectively. Riley Stidham and Terrill Lewis both recorded a sack on the evening with Justin Oppong snagging an interception in the opening seconds of the second quarter.
Oppong's interception led to the Griffins' first score of the game as Chestnut Hill drove 84 yards in six plays to tie the game at 7-7. Cancellare was a perfect 4-for-4 passing with two completions to Aiden Neff for 27 yards and two to Griffin, including a 45-yard toss, for 56 yards. Winday Dawson followed with a one yard run into the end zone for the score with Brady Reynolds adding the extra point.
Army came back and scored on their next possession to retake the lead 14-7 but the Griffins struck back on their very next possession to tie the game at 14-14. Cancellare connected on the first of his two 54-yard tosses to Griffin to highlight the drive. Three plays later he ran the ball in from one yard out for the game-tying score with just four seconds left in the half.
In the second half, Army scored on their first possession and added two field goals to take a 27-14 lead with game now in the fourth quarter. Chestnut Hill started their first drive of the final period deep in their own territory, but Cancellare found Griffin again for his second 54-yard catch of the day to move the ball into Army territory. Two plays later he connected with Ronnell Wheeler for a 34-yard touchdown reception to make the score 27-21.
The Griffins had one last drive in the final six minutes, moving the ball to Army's 25 yard line before the Black Knights stopped Chestnut Hill on and a 4th-and-10 with just under a minute remaining to take over on downs and run out the clock.
The sprint football team returns to action on Saturday, September 27, 2025, with a game at Caldwell University. Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m.
