WEST CALDWELL, N.J.- The Caldwell University sprint football team concluded their 2019 season on Saturday night with a 31-21 loss to the University of Pennsylvania in a Collegiate Sprint Football League South Division contest.
 
The Cougars end their season at 2-5 overall and 1-3 in the CSFL South Division, while the Quakers conclude their season at 5-2 and 3-1 in division play.  
 
Caldwell took the opening drive and marched down the field to take the early lead. Sophomore Vincenzo Brigati (Woodland Park, N.J.) had a pair of 13-yard runs in the drive, while freshman Timothy Palmer Jr. (Hawthorne, N.J.) had a key 14-yard run on a 3rd-and-8 play. Sophomore Armani Bermudez (Newark, N.J.) found the end zone on fourth down from two-yard out to give the Cougars a 7-0 lead.
 
The Quakers answered on their first drive and they found the end zone to even the score at 7-7. Penn added a touchdown midway through the second quarter to pull ahead 14-7.
 
The Cougars earned advantageous field position off a Penn punt late in the second quarter. On the second play of the drive, Bermudez rushed into the end zone from 33-yards out to tie the score at 14.
 
Penn answered as they booted a field goal as time expired in the second quarter to take a 17-14 halftime lead.
 
The Quakers added to the lead as they took the opening possession of the second half and found the end zone to push their lead to 24-14.
 
Caldwell closed the gap on their first offensive possession of the second half. Palmer had a 13-yard and 10-yard rush to keep their drive alive. Palmer connected with freshman Jeremy Colon (Union, City, N.J.) on a 50-yard scoring strike to cut the score to 24-21.
 
Penn broke the game open late in the fourth quarter with a long touchdown run to extend their lead to 10 points.
 
Palmer tossed for 87 yards and one touchdown and added 11 carries for 43 yards in the game. Bermudez posted his fourth 100-yard rushing game of the season with 16 carries for 149 and two scores. Brigati added nine rushes for 75 yards.
 
Junior Royce Francisco (Passaic, N.J.) led the Cougar defense with nine tackles along with one sack. Junior Randy Antenor (Jersey City, N.J.) totaled nine tackles and three sacks.