Posted December 2, 2019 by Kyle Johnson4 Comments Uncategorized

Season Round up/Awards

With the end of the season having come, it’s time to reflect on the past few months of CSFL action. I’ll start things off with the coronation: both of my preseason predictions of champions (Army) and league MVP (Eddie Jenkins) ended up being fulfilled. Of course, neither one was a ground-breaking take given what both parties had already achieved entering 2019, but there’s still some pride in making the right call for both the most significant team award and most significant individual award that the CSFL offers. Particularly when considering that Jenkins was the first league MVP to come from a team outside the top 2 since Army WR Geoff Phillips in 2008. So I’ll gladly take that undefeated prediction record into the next offseason.

All gloating aside, I think the league has to be pleased overall with how the 2019 season unfolded, primarily for one reason: the sign of some emerging parity. Entering this season, only three teams had won the CSFL title since 2007. That’s still true after the season, and it’s also true that none of the “Big 3” of Army, Navy, and Penn lost to anyone besides each other in 2019. But how those teams earned those wins was generally more difficult than their paths to victory in past years. We saw Caldwell hang tough in losses to Navy and Penn, being tied with Navy in the 4th quarter and trailing Penn by only 3 in the 4th, and they did both of those without starting QB Tajae Irby. Since Caldwell’s roster only had one senior this year, the Cougars’ rise should only continue. Similarly, Chestnut Hill had an all-time program best 5-2 record, with both losses coming in two-possession games to Navy and Penn.

Longer term, it’s still not a great sign for the league that all of the competitive balance seems to be heading to the South Division. The North’s only team to finish better than 2-5 besides Army was Mansfield, and even the Mounties’ 5-2 record was extremely inflated by avoiding Navy and Penn from the South, and getting a ridiculous forfeit win over Caldwell when they actually lost on the field. Needless to say, the best thing for the league down the road would be for both division winners to be in question when the season starts, rather than Army having a cakewalk to the title game. But some progress is better than none, and this year demonstrated a more balanced league at the top than we saw even three years ago.

Looking ahead, the CSFL will be entering quite a transition year as it approaches a season without Bill Wagner for the first time since the 1960s. Even though Wags was not the Commissioner, he was consistently vocal in just about every important decision the league made, and that voice will have to be replaced by committee. Despite this void, the CSFL seems to be in a good place moving forward. Partially due to the rise in social media’s prevalence, including the CSFL Hub, sprint football seems to be making a bigger name for itself among high school prospects, which should lead to a good influx of new talent. Roster attrition can still be an issue for some teams — for example, Post had 4 seniors in 2019, and Mansfield had 8 — but that seems to be more of a school-to-school issue to attack rather than a systemic league-wide flaw.

When all is said and done, sprint football is likely never going to be a nationwide sport, with dozens of teams taking flights every week to complete across the country. But for what the sport is — an isolated, but competitive, league in which undersized players know their opponents extremely well, and can continue playing for something that matters once their high school careers are done — the CSFL is in a good position to succeed. Between the addition of new expansion teams, the gradual rise in TV coverage of live games, and a true journalism outlet thanks to Kyle Johnson-Hackett, the league is continuing to grow its niche market, and there’s no reason that should slow down any time soon.

KJH: Cole summed up the season quite nicely. Army came out on top this year as league champs, plenty of new stars emerged while some stars capped amazing careers, and fabled Penn head coach Bill Wagner has passed the reigns on to a younger generation.The future is bright for many players and teams around the league. This weekend was cause for celebration for players as I announced the CSFL HUB All Freshmen Team and CSFL Hub 1st, 2nd, and 3rd teams. The teams are listed below. The 2019 Don Award Winner is also listed. I would also like to take this chance to welcome a new member to the team. AB alum Malik Washington will be joining the CSFL Hub team next season. The communications major will be the 3rd former player to join the team and offers a point of view from a starting DB perspective. Washington finished his lone season at AB with 32tackles 1.5TFL 1int 4pbu.

All Freshmen Team