Army Claims 2024 CSFL Championship
By: CSFL Staff | Collegiate Sprint Football League | November 16, 2024
Courtesy of Army West Point Athletics
WEST POINT, N.Y. (November 16, 2024) - Arthur Lavalais scored three touchdowns as Army West Point Sprint Football won its 37th CSFL Sprint Football Championship with a 21-16 win over the Navy Midshipmen at Shea Stadium Saturday.
Army's defense stepped up for two late, timely stops as Navy threatened late in the game. However, a fourth down stop in the red zone with 2:36 to play and an interception with 1:11 on the clock sealed the championship, the Black Knight's first since 2019.
In what was the sixth consecutive league championship game contested between the rivals, Army prevailed in spite of being outgained, 318-235. Critically, however, Army won the takeaway battle 2-0.
Quarterback Kyle West went 8-for-16 with 104 yards, but accounted for zero turnovers.
Army opened the scoring in its second drive of the opening quarter, marching 70-yards on nine plays capped by a Lavalais one-yard run.
The Mids responded with a 37-yard touchdown pass to tie the game in the second quarter and gained a lead with 8:05 before halftime on a 48-yard field goal.
On the ensuing kickoff, Parker Williams registered a 45-yard return to the Navy 30-yard line. Lavalais punched the ball into the end zone six plays later, on a six-yard rushing touchdown, and Army regained the lead, 14-10.
Lavalais once again found paydirt on the Black Knights' opening series of the second half, breaking open for 39-yards and a 21-10 lead.
On the Mids next drive, William Sayler ended Navy's immediate scoring threat with an interception. However, Navy got the ball back less than four minutes later, and made the game a one-score affair with an 11-play, 5:40 drive which lasted into the fourth quarter.
After Navy forced an Army punt early in the closing period, the Mids once again embarked on a lengthy drive, lasting 8:24 but ending thanks to a Mason Beriault pass breakup in the end zone on fourth down.
While the Army offense burned clock and forced the Mids the use timeouts on its next drive, Navy had one last chance to take the lead with 1:36, but saw its second play of the series result in a Drew Waldron interception to seal the result.
Army finishes the 2024 season with an 8-0 mark, capping its 22nd unbeaten season and 18th perfect season in program history (the CSFL used to recognize tied game results). The Black Knights defeated Navy twice in '24, having beaten the Mids 17-3 in Annapolis October 4 as part of the Star Series presented by USAA.
