The University of Pennsylvania sprint football team was defeated by Navy 36-21 on Saturday afternoon at Franklin Field. Penn trailed by just two points midway through the third quarter, but Navy pulled away in the final stages of the game.
With this loss, the Quakers have now dropped three consecutive games and hold a 1-5 overall record. Their Collegiate Sprint Football League (CSFL) South division play concluded with an 0-3 mark. Navy remains undefeated at 6-0 as they approach their final two games of the season.
Quarterback Josh Johnson completed 17 out of 29 passes for 208 yards and two touchdowns. Jake Wang led Penn receivers with seven catches for a career-high 108 yards. Jason Sheairs contributed six receptions for 80 yards and scored his third touchdown of the year, while Ryan Goodrich recorded his first career touchdown.
On defense, Gavin Griswold made ten tackles, including three tackles for loss totaling seven yards. Luke Pajovich had one sack, and Grant Coulson intercepted a pass from Navy’s quarterback, returning it 30 yards—the first interception of Coulson’s career. Hugh Maley led with two pass breakups; Wang added another.
Ezra Granet punted three times for a total of 118 yards, including a notable 60-yard punt that landed at Navy’s one-yard line. He also converted all three extra-point attempts.
The game began with Penn’s defense forcing an early three-and-out from Navy. However, Penn’s offense gave up a safety on its first play when Xavier May IV lost a yard on his rush attempt. Navy followed up with a touchdown drive to lead 10-0 before Johnson connected with Sheairs to narrow the gap to 10-7 in the second quarter.
Navy extended its lead to 16-7 after another score but missed the extra point. Just before halftime, Coulson intercepted O’Connell and returned it to the Navy 42-yard line; however, Penn could not capitalize and went into halftime trailing by nine points.
In the second half, Johnson threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to Goodrich to make it a two-point game at 16-14. Navy responded with an eight-play drive ending in an O’Connell-to-Berger touchdown but again missed the extra point.
Later in the third quarter, Wang made a key sideline catch on third down but shortly afterward Johnson’s pass was intercepted by Lexington Megerle of Navy. The Midshipmen converted that turnover into another touchdown and continued scoring until May IV ran in Penn’s final score from three yards out.
Penn will play its last road game of the season against Molloy in Rockville Centre, New York next week with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.
For updates on Penn sprint football, fans can follow @PennSprintFB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram or visit their website at PennAthletics.com.
