The Crimson Wave win back-to-back MSFL Championships

Terre Haute, IN – In its third season in the Midwest Sprint Football League, Calumet College of St. Joseph and St. Mary-of-the-Woods met in the championship game for the third straight year.

After falling in the championship game two years ago, CCSJ has now beaten the Pomeroys in two consecutive title games. The Crimson Wave were able to take down St. Mary-of-the-Woods 38-13 to hoist the 2024 MSFL Championship trophy. 

CCSJ has now become the first and only team in MSFL history to win two championships, as well as back-to-back championships.

"It's just an amazing feeling to come out, execute and reach our ultimate goal," head sprint football coach Jay Novak said. "We came here a couple weeks ago, and those guys handed it to us. They are a great football team. For our guys to rally up and do a fantastic job on special teams, defense, and offense today, I can't commend the coaching staff and players enough. They did a wonderful of a job all season long."

How it Happened

It wasn't a great start for either team as they quickly found out they were facing the two best defenses in the entire Midwest Sprint Football League. CCSJ's first two drives consisted of six plays, for 12 yards, leading to two punts.

On the Pomeroys first two possessions, they earned two first downs and even reached the CCSJ 35-yard line, but it was great defensive plays all around from the Crimson Wave to keep them away from the endzone. Trevor Busse came up with a solo tackle on 3^rd and 1. Marcus Hardy broke up a pass that would have put St. Mary-of-the-Woods inside the 10. Daymon Johnson broke up a pass on fourth down and Robinson Hale was able to get consistent pressure on St. Mary's quarterback.

With 3:04 on the clock in the first quarter, Jamall Warnell was able to rush for the Crimson Wave's first first-down of the game and the momentum started to build.

CCSJ continued to hand the ball off to its backfield and with the help of two Pomeroys' penalties, the Wave were able to score the first touchdown of the game. Warnell followed his lead blocker and scored on a 19-yard run the first play of the second quarter.

St. Mary's tried to respond the ensuing possession, but Josh Tejeda and Tony Madrueno came up with a sack on fourth down to end the drive.

Later in the second quarter, St. Mary's added to the CCSJ momentum on a 3^rd and 4 from its own 21 when a pass hit the helmet of one of its own linemen. The ball spun in the air and defensive lineman Tony Madrueno came down with the football for the first turnover of the game. 

Freshman kicker Jeau Vinatieri was able to help the Wave capitalize off the takeaway, making his longest field goal of the season at 41 yards. CCSJ extended its lead to 10 with 4:15 left in the first half.

With the pressure mounting, the Pomeroys were able to get on track and score before the end of the half, completing a 9-play, 63-yard drive.

Coming out of halftime, St. Mary's seemed to have regained some of that home field advantage. On their fourth play of the second half, the center and quarterback were not on the same page and a bad snap ended up in the hands of Tejeda for a fumble recovery around the 40-yard line.

The defense put the Wave's offense in good field position again like they've done all season long and they took advantage.

After a first half with no passing yards, Nino Barbosa connected with Elijah Tyson on his second pass of the game for 25 yards. Barbosa later connected with Tre Simmons for a 13-yard touchdown, giving CCSJ a 17-7 lead.

In the third quarter, the game consisted of a couple ebbs and flows as the Pomeroys muffed a punt, allowing CCSJ to regain possession. As that drive continued, it led to a blocked punt by the Pomeroys that ignited the crowd. 

After three straight incomplete passes that amounted to 24 seconds coming off the clock, St. Mary's went scoreless in seven of its first eight possessions.

Near the end of the third quarter, Barbosa was able to cap a 5-play, 68-yard drive with a 3-yard rushing touchdown. The Wave had a 24-7 lead after three quarters and could sense themselves holding the trophy after one more quarter of football.

The fourth quarter was more of the same as both Quindarius Davis and Barbosa came down with interceptions while the Pomeroys were trying to take shots down the field. Converting off the turnovers, Warnell was able to rush for his second touchdown and Destry Peoples completed a 25-yard touchdown pass to Simmons, to ultimately seal the win.

In back-to-back seasons, CCSJ has come up short to St. Mary's in both regular season games but has come out on top in the two championship games. Novak said he's just happy they got the most important wins in the matchup and his team couldn't have done this had they not come together when faced with adversity.

"We stayed together man, and we believed in each other all season long." Novak said. "We worked hard for one another, and we did for the greater good. I'm proud of this group because we've been up against it all year, even dating back to last season. I've never been around a group of guys like this that have really matured in front of me and learned how to go about business. I'm just so proud to be a part of this thing."

Crimson Wave Leaders

Starting quarterback Nino Barbosa went 5-of-12 for 71 yards and one touchdown. 

Destry Peoples came in and completed his one pass of the evening, which happened to be a 25-yard touchdown.

Jamall Warnell had 14 carries for 102 yards and two touchdowns. Zaire Davis had 18 carries for 86 yards, while Detrick Merriweather had five rushes for 15 yards. Barbosa also had one rushing touchdown, to go along with five carries for 13 yards. 

Tre Simmons had two receptions for 38 yards and two touchdowns, while Elijah Tyson had two catches for 31 yards. Xavier Haralovich had one catch for 21 yards and Zaire Davis had one catch for six yards.

Defensively, Jared Cuevas Cottrell led the team with 10 total tackles. Josh Tejeda had eight tackles and a sack, while Alexander Dellaechaie had eight tackles and four of them were solo. Tony Madrueno had six tackles, to go along with a sack and an interception. 

Quindarius Davis and Nino Barbosa both came down with interceptions in the fourth quarter. Daymon Johnson, Marcus Hardy, Robinson Hale and Anthony Stephenson all had two pass breakups each in the win. 

Kicker Jeau Vinatieri went 5-for-5 on extra point attempts and made his longest field goal this season of 41 yards in the second quarter.