SAINT MARY-OF-THE-WOODS, Ind. -- The 2024 Midwest Sprint Football League Championship Game is set for Saturday, November 9 as the No. 2 Crimson Wave of Calumet College of St. Joseph and the No. 1 Pomeroys of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College meet at 1 pm (ET) at Jay Barrett Field at West Vigo High School. This is the third annual MSFL Championship Game and also marks the third consecutive season that these two teams will meet for the title on Championship Saturday.

The game will be broadcast live on the Indiana Sports Network as well as WNDI 95.3 FM on the radio with the legendary John Montgomery describing the action.

SMWC continues its third season of competing in sprint football. The Pomeroys are 20-3 all-time in the sport -- all under the direction of third-year head coach Blaine Powell. The Pomeroys are a perfect 11-0 all-time record away from home and are 9-3 when playing on their home turf.

Calumet is under the direction of head coach Jay Novak.

These two teams are no strangers to each other as they will be meeting for the seventh time in the these three seasons of MSFL play. The Pomeroys are 4-2 against the Crimson Wave all-time and are 1-2 at home against the Crimson Wave. SMWC won the 2022 MSFL Championship Game against the Crimson Wave on the road and dropped last year's championship game against Calumet in West Terre Haute.

SMWC will be playing in their fifth MSFL Playoff contest in the third year of the program. They are 3-1 in the playoffs, including a 2-1 record in home playoff contests. This is Calumet's third all-time appearance in the MSFL Playoffs and third time reaching the championship game.

The Pomeroys won the 2022 Midwest Sprint Football League Championship with a 23-7 win at CCSJ in the league's championship game which was played in Whiting, Ind. In 2023, SMWC reached the MSFL Championship Game after earning a share of the regular season crown but fell to CCSJ in that game at Jay Barrett Field to finish as league runner-up. It was the first college football playoff contest to be held in Vigo County since 1984. In 2024, the Pomeroys were named the MSFL Preseason favorite and the outright regular season champion.

SMWC advanced to the championship game with a 56-42 win on November 2 over Midway (Ky.). 

Jeremiah Tosky completed 12-of-14 passes for 221 yards and a pair of touchdown passes in the win. Jones was the leading scorer with 65 yards on the ground and a score as the Pomeroys scored five times on the ground in the contest paced by two rushing scores from Hunt. Reese was the leading receiver in the game with three catches for 108 yards and two touchdowns plus the 85 yard kickoff return to put him in the end zone a total of three times.

Jake Skinner paced the Pomeroys with eight tackles in the game while Peyton Metzger and Debryan Bush each posted quarterback sacks. Kerry Lacey tallied an interception plus a 27 yard return while Vermont Johnson, Jr., recorded a pick with a 19 yard return.

The Pomeroys amassed 403 total yards in the game including 182 on the ground and 221 in the air. SMWC tallied 23 first downs in the win and converted 7-of-8 3rd down conversions.

Tosky won three MSFL Offensive Player of the Week awards over the course of the season and his third came in the regular season win over Calumet College of St. Joseph. In the win over the Crimson Wave, he completed 12-of-17 passes for 292 yards and three touchdowns. He had three long touchdown passes on the day including a 54-yarder to Corbyn Cleveland with 12 minutes remaining in a one possession game on third down which stretched the advantage out to two possessions. He found Marques Reese for a pair of touchdowns as well in scoring 36 points against the Crimson Wave which was allowing only 7 points per game. 

Tosky completed 17-of-25 passes for 386 yards as the Pomeroys improved to 5-0 on the season with a road win at Walsh. He recorded a total of three touchdown passes in the contest. He capped the opening drive with a 39-yard scoring strike and then came back with a 72 yarder on the second drive for a quick two possession lead. Tosky added a 47-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter to send SMWC to a 28-0 halftime lead.

The Week 7 MSFL Special Teams Player of the Week was Owen Huff. Huff picked up a forced fumble on the opening kickoff the win over Calumet College of St. Joseph and scooped the ball before returning it 28 yards for a touchdown as the Pomeroys were up a touchdown just 10 seconds into the game en route to victory and the MSFL Regular Season Championship.

SMWC won all three of the MSFL weekly awards following their 54-26 win at Bellarmine on October 5. Marques Reese (Indianapolis, Ind. / Ben Davis HS) is the MSFL Offensive Player of the Week while Austin Petrillo (Rockville, Ind. / Parke Heritage HS) is the MSFL Defensive Player of the Week and Darrius Megnin (Corydon, Ind. / Corydon Central HS) is the MSFL Special Teams Player of the Week.

Reese took the league's Special Teams Player of the Week honors after Week 1 and comes back this week as the MSFL Offensive Player of the Week. Reese caught six passes for 158 yards -- an average of 26.3 yards per catch with a pair of touchdowns in the 54-26 road victory over Bellarmine. His long of 62 yards came in the first play after halftime to stretch the Pomeroy lead to 22-7 over the Knights. He also hauled in a 40-yarder just before halftime to give SMWC a 14-7 advantage. He also caught one two point conversion and added a 13-yard kickoff return.

Petrillo was credited with six total tackles, including a tackle for a loss in the Pomeroys 54-26 victory at Bellarmine. He posted a pair of interceptions including a key one in the red zone just before halftime to stop a potential game-tying drive by the Knights before halftime. Petrillo also blocked a PAT kick in the third quarter which was eventually returned 98 yards for a defensive two point conversion. He intercepted his second pass of the contest and returned the ball to the Bellarmine 4-yard line for 61 yards which set up the final SMWC touchdown of the day.

Megnin pulled off one of the most rare scoring plays in all of football when he took a PAT attempt that was blocked by Petrillo and scooped the ball at the two-yard line and returned it 98 yards for a defensive two-point conversion after Bellarmine had scored to cut into the Pomeroy lead. The extra two points combined with a safety three minutes later established a 40-20 advantage for SMWC heading into the 4th quarter.