Army West Point Athletics
Saturday, October 31
West Point, N.Y.
2 PM
Army West Point
vs
Navy
Sprint Football to Honor Seniors Versus Navy
October 30, 2015 | Sprint Football
WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point sprint football team will honor the team's 20 seniors before hosting service academy rival Navy for the 76th time with a Star and the Collegiate Sprint Football League (CSFL) championship hanging in the balance on Saturday at Shea Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.
The Class of 2016 has definitely left its mark on the sprint football program over the last four years. No other class in the program's 58-year history has a better four-year record than these seniors, who are 26-1. This includes consecutive 7-0 seasons in 2012 and 2013 en route to back-to-back CSFL titles. They also won the first six games of the 2014 season, marking the second-longest win streak in program history at 20.
"It would mean everything to send this senior class out with a win," said head coach Mark West. "I think every senior wants that. This is a big senior class; there are 17 of them plus our three senior managers, so we'd sure love to send them out with a win over Navy."
The two academies combine for 33 of the league's top-two spots in 31 statistical categories. There are 10 categories which see the Black Knights and the Midshipmen holding both of these spots, with Army having the slight edge leading six of those categories. Army leads a total of 10 different categories league-wide going into the final week of the season while being second in nine. Navy leads total six categories and is second in eight.Â
Offensively, this class has led the Black Knights to score an average greater than 39 points per game. The strength of that unit comes from the protection of the offensive line with Gerald McDonough, Nolan Jones, Cale Brown, Darius Javan and Kenny McClain who give wide receivers like Othie Freeny, Kevin O'Brien and team captain Tucker Van Dyke time to run their routes and get open.
"It would be amazing to go out with a win over Navy," said Van Dyke. "Honestly, I couldn't think of a better way to finish up my career here with the sprint football team. It has been a blessing to be on this team and it would mean a lot to me to go out with a win."
On the defensive side of the ball, with a front seven that includes Jared Sturgell, Curtis Gardner, Philip Choi and team captain Ryan Gallagher putting pressure on opposing quarterbacks it comes as no surprise that Army leads the CSFL in sacks with 40 as a team and has the individual sacks leader with Choi who has 11.5. That kind of pressure forces the opposition to get the ball out of their hands quicker, which gives the speedy backs of the Black Knights such as Jack Barnett, Alfred McQuirter and Shaq Tolbert opportunities to swarm the ball and go after interceptions.
"This is a big game for us," said Gallagher. "As seniors, this is our last game ever. We've had a hard-fought series against Navy the past three years, and we're just looking for a win. To go out with a win would be big for us because we have one loss under our belt these past four years, but to finish off strong and take back what we lost last year is a big deal to us. I think we've already given what it takes beat Navy in practice this week and the whole year leading up to this. We're a good team, that has been working hard and we're ready."Â
Special teams play has aided both of these units tremendously throughout the 2015 season as well. Punter Mark Dabeck is averaging 36.8 yards on his 24 punts this season, while pinning opponents inside their own 20 yard line eight times with two punts of more than 50 yards.
Kicker Warren Kay is looking to go out with the best season of his career and earn his third First Team All-CSFL selection. He leads all others in the league in six categories: scoring, field goals made and attempted, longest field goal and PATs made and attempted. The senior from Goshen, Ind., is on pace to set new personal records in seven categories.
After breaking his previous long of 42 yards on a field goal with a 48-yarder against Penn, Kay added two more in overtime, including the game-winner. It was a personal-best for most in a single game while also tying his single-season high of seven. He is on pace to break personal records in most field goals (7), PATs (31) and points (52) in a season.
To watch the game on Knight Vision, click here.
To follow along with the Live Stats, click here.
For up-to-date information on Army Sprint football visit GoArmyWestPoint.com or follow @ArmyWP_SprintFB on Twitter.
The Class of 2016 has definitely left its mark on the sprint football program over the last four years. No other class in the program's 58-year history has a better four-year record than these seniors, who are 26-1. This includes consecutive 7-0 seasons in 2012 and 2013 en route to back-to-back CSFL titles. They also won the first six games of the 2014 season, marking the second-longest win streak in program history at 20.
"It would mean everything to send this senior class out with a win," said head coach Mark West. "I think every senior wants that. This is a big senior class; there are 17 of them plus our three senior managers, so we'd sure love to send them out with a win over Navy."
The two academies combine for 33 of the league's top-two spots in 31 statistical categories. There are 10 categories which see the Black Knights and the Midshipmen holding both of these spots, with Army having the slight edge leading six of those categories. Army leads a total of 10 different categories league-wide going into the final week of the season while being second in nine. Navy leads total six categories and is second in eight.Â
Offensively, this class has led the Black Knights to score an average greater than 39 points per game. The strength of that unit comes from the protection of the offensive line with Gerald McDonough, Nolan Jones, Cale Brown, Darius Javan and Kenny McClain who give wide receivers like Othie Freeny, Kevin O'Brien and team captain Tucker Van Dyke time to run their routes and get open.
"It would be amazing to go out with a win over Navy," said Van Dyke. "Honestly, I couldn't think of a better way to finish up my career here with the sprint football team. It has been a blessing to be on this team and it would mean a lot to me to go out with a win."
On the defensive side of the ball, with a front seven that includes Jared Sturgell, Curtis Gardner, Philip Choi and team captain Ryan Gallagher putting pressure on opposing quarterbacks it comes as no surprise that Army leads the CSFL in sacks with 40 as a team and has the individual sacks leader with Choi who has 11.5. That kind of pressure forces the opposition to get the ball out of their hands quicker, which gives the speedy backs of the Black Knights such as Jack Barnett, Alfred McQuirter and Shaq Tolbert opportunities to swarm the ball and go after interceptions.
"This is a big game for us," said Gallagher. "As seniors, this is our last game ever. We've had a hard-fought series against Navy the past three years, and we're just looking for a win. To go out with a win would be big for us because we have one loss under our belt these past four years, but to finish off strong and take back what we lost last year is a big deal to us. I think we've already given what it takes beat Navy in practice this week and the whole year leading up to this. We're a good team, that has been working hard and we're ready."Â
Special teams play has aided both of these units tremendously throughout the 2015 season as well. Punter Mark Dabeck is averaging 36.8 yards on his 24 punts this season, while pinning opponents inside their own 20 yard line eight times with two punts of more than 50 yards.
Kicker Warren Kay is looking to go out with the best season of his career and earn his third First Team All-CSFL selection. He leads all others in the league in six categories: scoring, field goals made and attempted, longest field goal and PATs made and attempted. The senior from Goshen, Ind., is on pace to set new personal records in seven categories.
After breaking his previous long of 42 yards on a field goal with a 48-yarder against Penn, Kay added two more in overtime, including the game-winner. It was a personal-best for most in a single game while also tying his single-season high of seven. He is on pace to break personal records in most field goals (7), PATs (31) and points (52) in a season.
To watch the game on Knight Vision, click here.
To follow along with the Live Stats, click here.
For up-to-date information on Army Sprint football visit GoArmyWestPoint.com or follow @ArmyWP_SprintFB on Twitter.
Players Mentioned
DB
/ Sprint Football
OL
/ Sprint Football
DL
/ Sprint Football
P
/ Sprint Football
WR
/ Sprint Football
LB
/ Sprint Football
DL
/ Sprint Football
OL
/ Sprint Football
OL
/ Sprint Football
K
/ Sprint Football
OL
/ Sprint Football
OL
/ Sprint Football
DB
/ Sprint Football
WR
/ Sprint Football
DL
/ Sprint Football
DB
/ Sprint Football
WR
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