The St. Thomas Aquinas College Sprint Football team opened their 2019 CSFL Season, falling to the United States Naval Academy 42-17 in Annapolis, Maryland on Friday night.

STAC (0-1) fell behind by three scores after one quarter of play against the Midshipmen (1-0), and a fourth touchdown early in the second quarter, before the Spartans got themselves on the board with a 26-yard Godson Nartey field goal with 2:59 left in the quarter. The maroon and gold then followed that up with a 43-yard interception return by Malyk Michel moments later to send the teams to their respective locker rooms with Navy leading STAC, 28-10.

No scoring in the third quarter kept the game within reach for St. Thomas Aquinas, however Navy had other ideas and extended their lead to 25 just two and half minutes into the final quarter of play on Jake Foss 5-yard touchdown pass to Eric Spicer, making it 35-10. The Spartans would score moments later when Ernest Stallworth Jr would take a 69-yard pass from Kiel McKenzie into the endzone to close the gap at 35-17. Unfortunately, STAC would not be able to put up any additional points and the Midshipmen would score one more time in the final minutes, on a Jake Foss 43-yard run to close things out in a 42-17 Navy victory.

Sophomore Kiel McKenzie went 10-for-22 passing on the evening for 161 yards and a touchdown, while throwing two interceptions. Meanwhile, freshman Ernest Stallworth Jr made five catches for 93 total yards and a touchdown. On the defensive side of the ball, senior Malyk Michel, freshman Maxwell Johnson and Stallworth Jr each picked up an interception in the game, with Michel returning his for a pick-six. Junior kicker Godson Nartey went 1-for-1 on field goals, hitting from 26 yards out and was 2-of-2 on extra point tries.

St. Thomas Aquinas College will now prepare for their home opener against Caldwell University, which takes place next Saturday, September 21st at the Torne Valley Sports Complex in Hillburn, NY. Kickoff is scheduled for 6pm.