Sprint Football Escapes Penn in 2OT, Stays Perfect

Friday, October 23

West Point, N.Y.

7 PM

Army West Point

6-0 , 6-0

Penn

4-2 , 4-2

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	OT	OT	Final F
PENN	0	0	0	10	3	0	13
Army West Point	0	3	7	0	3	3	16

Sprint Football Escapes Penn in 2OT, Stays Perfect

October 23, 2015 | Sprint Football

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The right leg of senior kicker Warren Kay turned out to be the difference-maker in Army West Point sprint football's thrilling 16-13 double-overtime win over Penn to remain undefeated and clinch a share of the Collegiate Sprint Football League title on Friday night at Shea Stadium.

The victory earns the Black Knights (6-0, 6-0 CSFL) their 34th CSFL title, but they have to defeat Navy on Halloween to win the outright title.

"Any kind of win is a good win," said head coach Mark West. "This game was ugly at times, but the bottom line is we hung in there and made some plays when we had to. Our kicker, Warren Kay, came through in a big way tonight and we got a victory."

Kay booted three field goals in the game, none bigger than his 34-yard game winner in the second overtime. The Goshen, Ind., native also drilled one from 48 yards out in the second quarter for the only scoring in the first half and added a 24-yarder in the opening overtime period.

Freshman quarterback Brady Miller acquired 171 all-purpose yards on the night after gaining 133 through the air on 13 completions and netting 38 yards on the ground. Miller also scored a 65-yard rushing touchdown. His favorite target remains to be Breed who caught six more passes tonight for 69 yards. Junior running back Marqus Burrell led the ground game for Army with 27 touches for 62 yards.

The defensive effort for the Black Knights started up front with the linemen accounting for four of the team's seven sacks on the night and eight of the 16 tackles for loss. Sophomore Arran Rounds was responsible for the bulk of that as he led the team with 11 tackles, including two sacks for 17 yards and five tackles for loss for 33 yards. Senior Philip Choi came into the game leading the league in sacks and added two more to that total tonight. Sophomore linebacker Jake Marchillo stepped up big as a reserve tonight, contributing eight tackles, three sacks for 24 yards and a blocked punt off the bench.

Army held the best quarterback-wide receiver tandem in the league in check the entire game allowing Mike McCurdy to gain only 183 yards on 18 of 37 passing while limiting Henry Mason to six catches for 46 yards.

Kay's first half field goal came with 6:37 left in the second quarter, and was the only points either team managed to put on the board in the first half. Both sides were defensively stout, allowing a combined 144 yards of total offense and getting to the quarterbacks nine times collectively. The two sides also forced 10 drives of three plays or fewer, nine of which were three-and-outs.

The Quakers (4-2, 4-2 CSFL) had a chance to tie the game in the waning seconds of the first half, but senior defensive lineman Philip Choi was able to break through the line and get a hand on the ball to keep Army's scoreless streak alive.

That streak would come to an end in the fourth quarter, however, when Mario Del Cueto connected for a 35-yard field goal with 8:16 remaining. The streak lasted for 22 quarters and a total of 355 minutes and 22 seconds dating back to the 1:38 mark in the fourth quarter of the 2014 season-finale at Navy. The five games prior this season is a record for both longest shutout streak to start a season and longest single-season shutout streak. The overall record still belongs to the 1965-66 teams who held their opponents off the scoreboard for 26-consecutive quarters.

After forcing Penn into one of its four three-and-outs to start the second half, the Black Knights cashed in on their longest run of the season. On 2nd and 14 from his own 35 yard line, freshman quarterback Brady Miller broke off a 65-yard score off a read option to bring the lead to double-digits.

"The real credit goes to Austin Breed on that play," said Miller. "He continued running his route making the corner stay on him and vacated the area which left the hole open for me."

After Del Cueto's field goal, the Quakers found a way to even the score with just over four minutes left in the game when McCurdy connected on his only touchdown pass of the game to Jack Epstein from 20-yards out after escaping a sack.

With the game notted at 10 with 0:04 left on the clock in the fourth quarter, Army's fate rested with the right foot of Del Cueto. From 49-yards away, he pulled the kick left sending the game into overtime.

The Black Knights won the coin toss in overtime and elected to start on offense. They capitalized with a 24-yard field goal from Kay. Penn answered with a 22-yarder, but was unable to convert from 37 yards.

"This win is big because we knew the tail end of our season was going to be tough," said West. "Franklin Pierce gave us a great game last week and we knew coming into this game that Penn is a really good football team. I think both of these games will prepare us well for a good Navy team."

Army's season finale is on Saturday, Oct. 31, at 2 p.m. when it look to remain perfect, clinch the outright CSFL championship and earn the Star against Navy at Shea Stadium. The Black Knights will recognize the program's 20 seniors from the class of 2016 in a ceremony before the game.

For up-to-date information on Army sprint football visit GoArmyWestPoint.com or follow @ArmyWP_SprintFB on Twitter.