KINGS POINT, N.Y.  -  The Coast Guard Academy football team took on the Merchant Marine Academy in today's 44th annual battle for the Secretaries Cup, with the game also serving as the finale to both teams' 2024 regular seasons. Coast Guard would dominate on offense and defense, winning 42-21 for the first Bears win in the big game since 2018, when they won 26-12 at Kings Point.

The Bears wrap up the regular season with a 5-5 (3-4 NEWMAC) record, while Kings Point finishes at 5-4 (3-4 NEWMAC). Coast Guard is now 16-37 in Secretaries Cup games.

Both teams traded turnovers on downs for the entirety of the opening quarter, heading into the second tied at zero while Coast Guard faced 4th-and-1 on Kings Point's 46. Senior quarterback Joey Armentrout kept the ball on the opening play, rushing two yards to keep the drive alive. The Bears would score just a few snaps later, getting on the board first after an 18-yard touchdown pass from Armentrout to sophomore receiver Matthew LaBouliere; sophomore kicker Brennen Holt drilled the extra point to put Coast Guard up 7-0 with 11:38 left in the quarter, capping a 12-play, 67-yard drive.

The Mariners would even the score on the next drive, ending their 13-play, 65-yard trudge on a three-yard touchdown rush by junior quarterback Gervy Alota with 5:20 until halftime. Alota also converted the ensuing extra point. It would take only four plays for Coast Guard to get the lead back after Armentrout connected with LaBouliere again for a 32-yard touchdown pass. Holt kicked it through the uprights to put the Bears back up a score with 4:13 on the clock.

Senior linebacker Ethan Lasher forced a fumble on Kings Point's ensuing drive, and the ball was picked up by fellow senior linebacker Patrick McCaskey, giving the Bears one more chance to add on to their lead before halftime. Coast Guard would drain the clock on the drive, rattling off seven plays over 41 yards before Armentrout passed it to sophomore running back James Wheeler IV for a nine-yard score with 34 seconds remaining; Holt was on the money again for the PAT.

Merchant Marine would attempt to cut into the deficit before halftime, making it to 1st-and-10 on the Bears 42-yard line before senior defensive lineman Solomon Ashby III intervened. Ashby sacked Alota for a five-yard loss on the 1st-and-10 before he collaborated with junior d-lineman William Wolf, with both men tackling the Mariners' quarterback on the next play and limiting him to a one-yard rush. Ashby then sacked Alota again, this time for a four-yard loss, on 3rd-and-14 to push Kings Point back to the 50 with two seconds left.

Merchant Marine would move up to the Coast Guard 35-yard-line after the Bears were given a roughing the passer penalty, but Mariners' senior kicker Jackson Tinkis would miss the 45-yarder. The game went into halftime with Coast Guard leading, 21-7. The teams were nearly even in rushing offense in the first half, with the Bears holding an 83-81 advantage in that regard. The aerial attacks, on the other hand, were without comparison as Coast Guard tallied 174 passing and receiving yards, the while Kings Point had just 54.

Merchant Marine opened the second half by making it to the Bears 22-yard-line before a fumble by the Mariners was recovered by sophomore d-lineman Clayton Adair. Coast Guard took full advantage of the turnover, marching down the field and extending their lead with a 34-yard touchdown run by Wheeler to end a six-play, 78-yard drive with 7:03 remaining; Holt improved to 4/4 on PATs to put Coast Guard up 28-7.

Kings Point would respond with a touchdown of their own, a seven-yard rush by senior running back James Menor to finish off an eight-play, 78-yard drive with 3:57 on the clock; Tinkis was good on the extra point, making it a 28-14 game. The score was set up by a huge passing play that saw Alota connect with senior receiver Talsen Smith for a 39-yard gain. Smith set Merchant Marine's single-season record for receiving yards just a couple games ago, and the Bears had countered him well throughout the game. Menor punched it in just a couple of snaps later.

The next drive saw the Bears get into scoring position at Merchant Marine's 27 following a 44-yard passing gain between Armentrout and LaBouliere. The third quarter was closed out after a pair of short rushing gains by sophomore running back Harrison Hensley, and Coast Guard would start the fourth with a fresh set of downs on the 16-yard line. A 15-yard run by Wheeler set the Bears up on the goal line before Armentrout punched it in himself with 14:11 to go; another converted PAT by Holt made the score 35-14.

King's Point was close to scoring again on their next chance, rattling off 13 plays over 56 yards before Alota was picked off at the 18-yard line by sophomore linebacker Noah Rohrer, who made it 28 yards to Coast Guard's 46 before being brought down by Smith. Coast Guard would score on the ensuing drive, with Hensley rushing 19 yards to the end zone on a 4th-and-1 to complete the nine-play, 54-yard drive with 2:44 left; Holt's sixth extra point of the game made it 42-14.

Merchant Marine would score one last touchdown with 48 seconds left on an 11-yard pass from freshman backup quarterback Bubba Mustain to senior receiver Jaden Colon; the following PAT kick by Tinkis cut the Bears lead down to 21. The game saw one of the best performances of the season for Coast Guard on both sides of the ball, with the 42 points scored and 21 points allowed being the third-most and third-least of the season, respectively. The Bears had 475 yards of total offense, going for 216 on the ground and 259 in the air.

Armentrout finished the game with a 198.7 quarterback rating after going 22/26 on passing attempts with three touchdowns. LaBouliere accounted for 130 receiving yards on seven receptions to lead the receiving crew, while Hensley rushed for 115 yards on 22 attempts and Wheeler rushed for 88 on 11. Sophomore defensive back Ramon Cruz led the defense with 13 total tackles and seven solo tackles. Ashby, McCaskey, and sophomore d-back Jael Cuellar all finished with ten each.