CADET

View Original

DECADES OF DOMINANCE

Chris Pestel

CONNECT + INSPIRE
CADET is a bi-annual magazine about West Point culture. 
Highly independent, quite unofficial, aggressively dedicated. 
Based in DC  @chrisWpestel @carolinepestel

ARMY SPRINT FOOTBALL ALUMNI WEEKEND

For the 10th consecutive year, the Army Sprint Football team gathered in late August to celebrate the program, their camaraderie and the brotherhood that is Army Sprint Football. The 10th Annual gathering was dubbed the Decade of Dominance by head coach Mark West USMA ‘91. Below are a selection of images from the weekend with a link to the full gallery. Below that are statistics by decade.

This year Army Sprint Football is undefeated and poised to defend its CSFL title against Navy this weekend. The game is being played about 45 minutes from West Point at the Joseph T. St. Lawrence Community Center Field at 115 Torne Valley Rd in Hillburn, NY 10931. 

The team defeated Cornell last Friday night by a score of 51-0, keeping their undefeated record and thus winning the North Division and earning the right to play in the Championship Game this Saturday against Navy.

In 2017 the Army Sprint Football team went 8-0 and defeated UPENN in the inaugural CSFL title game by a score of 10-0.

BEAT NAVY!

Successful football programs are a tradition at the U.S. Military Academy. The Army Football program has three national championships, three Heisman Trophy winners, and 26 Hall of Fame members on their all-time roster.

However, there is another Army football team at West Point, the sprint football team. The lightweight Black Knights, who are celebrating the program's 61st anniversary, have racked up 310 wins since the program's inception in 1957. With 19 undefeated seasons, Army has won or shared the conference championship 34 times in its 61 years.

The Eastern Lightweight Football League - now known as the Collegiate Sprint Football League - was first started in 1934 by George E. Little of Rutgers University. The league's seven charter members included:

CornelL - Lafayette - Rutgers - Pennsylvania - PrincetoN - VillanovA - Yale

The rules of the game are the same with a few exceptions:

  1. No team may hold workouts until three weeks prior to its first game, scouting of opponents is forbidden and

  2. Players must meet maximum weight requirements.

Four days before a game, all players must weigh in at 178.0 pounds and weigh-in again two days before the game at 178.0 pounds. If players do not meet both standards, they are ineligible for that week's game. A player is not under a weight restriction once he has passed that week's weigh-in.

Yale and Lafayette disbanded their programs in 1942 and 1943, respectively, and play was halted during World War II (1943-45). In 1946, the U.S. Naval Academy joined the conference and dominated play until the Black Knights entered the league 11 years later.

1950s

  • Combined Record: 16-1-1, .917 pct. (1957-1959)

  • Points For: 622 | Points Allowed: 133

  • Shutouts: 10

  • CSFL Titles – 2 (1957 & 58)

  • Vs. Navy: 2-1 (Wins in 1957 (7-0) & 58 (33-0))

  • First three games in program history were shutouts, outscoring Columbia Cornell and Navy a combined 109-0

  • 1958 team opened season with 4 shutouts (one of three Army teams to accomplish this feat: 1994 (4), 2015 (5))

  • Outscored those opponents 184-0 w/ at least 33 points in each game

1960s

In its first six years in the league, Army put together a 32-3-1 record winning four ELFL titles under legendary coach Eric Tipton. After suffering their only losing season in 1963, the Black Knights won 17 of their next 18 contests over the next three years along with capturing two more ELFL championships.

  • Combined Record: 49-10, .831 pct. (1960-69)

  • Points For: 1,611 | Points Allowed: 403

  • Shutouts: 21

  • CSFL Titles – 4 (1960, 62, 64 & 66)

  • Vs. Navy: 4-6 (Wins in 1962 (15-12), 64 (6-0), 66 (13-9) & 68 (17-14))

1970s

Army was the team of the decade during the 1970's, winning 49 games and seven ELFL titles. The Academy put together a string of 21 straight victories between 1972 and 1975, a school record that still stands today. The Black Knights won five straight ELFL titles and enjoyed three consecutive undefeated seasons. The 1970s also saw the "Tipton Era" come to an end after the 1976 season. "Tip" stepped down after 20 seasons with 104 victories and 13 league titles.

  • Combined Record: 49-8, .860 pct. (1970-79)

  • Points For: 1,584 | Points Allowed: 503

  • Shutouts: 21

  • CSFL Titles – 7 (1970, 71*, 72, 73, 74, 76, 79*) *Shared league title w/ Navy

  • Vs. Navy: 8-2 (Wins in 1970 (19-7), 71 (20-0), 72 (41-0), 73 (27-24), 74 (28-12), 75 (31-26), 76 (25-21) & 79 (16-14))

1980s

The 1980s saw more of the same in terms of championships. Army won or shared eight of the titles - the most championships of any school in any 10 - year span. Between 1986 and 1991 under coach Bob Thompson, the Black Knights won six straight league titles. Thompson finished with a career record of 64-14-2 and nine league crowns during his 12 years of coaching.

  • Combined Record: 52-12-1, .808 pct. (1980-89)

  • Points For: 1,606 | Points Allowed: 726

  • Shutouts: 12

  • CSFL Titles – 8 (1980, 81, 83, 84, 86%, 87*, 88, 89&) %Shared league title w/ Navy and Cornell…*Shared league title w/ Navy…&Shared league title w/ Princeton

  • Vs. Navy: 6-6 (Wins in 1980 (16-12), 83 x2 (31-22 |38-13*), 84 (52-0*), 87 (16-14) & 89 (32-10)) *Anthracite Bowl

1990s

In the 1990s, Army again dominated the league, winning six championships. Gene McIntyre replaced Thompson in 1998 and continued the tradition of excellence established by his predecessors. McIntyre guided the Black Knights to three CSFL titles in his first eight years on the job while posting a 41-16 record during his tenure at West Point.

  • Combined Record: 53-11-1, .823 pct. (1990-99)

  • Points For: 1,826 | Points Allowed: 551

  • Shutouts: 19

  • CSFL Titles – 7 (1990, 91, 93, 94, 96#, 98$, 99) #Shared league title w/ Navy & Penn…$Shared league title w/ Penn

  • Vs. Navy: 6-8-1 (Wins in 1990 (35-7), 93 (28-3), 94 (41-34), 96 (34-7), 98 (43-8) & 99 (38-15)) (Tied in 1991 (20-20)

2000s

  • Combined Record: 41-25, .621 pct. (2000-09)

  • Points For: 1,706 | Points Allowed: 822

  • Shutouts: 16

  • CSFL Titles – 1 (2003)

  • Vs. Navy: 4-15 (Wins in 2000 x2 (21-7* | 31-24), 01 (24-7*) & 03 (30-25))

2010s

  • Combined Record: 50-6, .893 pct. (2010-17)

  • Points For: 2,186 | Points Allowed: 640

  • Shutouts: 17

  • CSFL Titles – 5 (2010$, 12, 13, 15, 17) $Shared league title w/ Penn

  • Vs. Navy: 5-4 (Wins in 2010 (32-30), 12 (21-18), 13 (17-7), 15 (24-23) & 17 (40-6))

  • Two highest scoring seasons in program history (364 – 2017 | 320 – 2012) 

See this content in the original post