The University of Pennsylvania sprint football team secured its first win of the 2025 season with a narrow 15-14 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas College at Franklin Field in Philadelphia on Friday night.
Freshman Xavier May IV scored his first collegiate touchdown in the third quarter, helping Penn achieve a 1-2 overall record and move to 0-1 in CSFL South play. Jake Wang also recorded his first touchdown of the season, catching six passes for a team-high 70 yards. May led all rushers with 79 yards on the ground.
Defensively, freshman Ryan Goodrich made seven tackles to lead the team. On special teams, Josh Johnson had an interception and Marcus Butler forced a fumble.
The game began with St. Thomas Aquinas taking an early lead after Trevon Washington returned a kickoff for a touchdown less than one minute into play. Penn responded as quarterback Nield connected with Wang for a 19-yard touchdown pass, reducing the deficit to 7-6.
St. Thomas Aquinas maintained possession and extended their lead to 14-6 by the end of the first quarter after a lengthy drive. In the second quarter, Penn’s defense intercepted Spartans quarterback Tynez Harp through junior Johnson’s effort but could not immediately capitalize. Late in the half, Ezra Granet converted his first field goal for Penn, making it 14-9 at halftime.
After halftime, both defenses played strongly. Paul Tjoumakaris contributed two consecutive stops that helped force St. Thomas Aquinas to punt early in the third quarter. Goodrich returned this punt for 16 yards, setting up May’s go-ahead touchdown run three plays later.
St. Thomas Aquinas advanced deep into Penn territory on their next drive but were set back by penalties and then stopped by Luke Pajovich’s sack for a loss of fifteen yards as time expired in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, neither offense was able to score again as both teams exchanged punts and defensive stands dominated play. With just under four minutes left, Butler forced a fumble recovered by Pajovich but Penn’s offense did not add more points before time ran out.
Penn will travel next weekend to face defending CSFL champion Army Black Knights on Friday, October 10 at West Point.
