BOSTON (Nov. 14, 2025) – The historic rivalry will be played at a historic venue this year as the USMMA football team (6-2, 4-2 NEWMAC) will battle its arch-rival Coast Guard (7-2, 5-1 NEWMAC) in the 45th Annual Secretaries' Cup at Fenway Park in Boston on Saturday, Nov. 15.
Kickoff is scheduled for 12:05 p.m. (ET) with live streaming coverage provided on ESPN+, as the game is being produced by the World Wide Leader in Sports for the ninth-consecutive season, with play-by-play man
Robert Lee and color analyst
Craig Haubert back for another year on the call!
(Important Note: ESPN+ has started the broadcast early in years past to catch the pageantry of the March-On with the Coast Guard cadets and the Merchant Marine midshipmen. So be sure to log on early to catch that around 11:30 a.m.)
Important Links
This Game's Getting All The Buzz!
We've received a bevy of media requests these past few weeks for this game from a number of outlets including, but not limited to ESPN, the New York Post, News12 Long Island, D3football.com, the D1 Rejects Podcast and more!
A New York Post article hit the presses this morning featuring interviews with fourth-year head coach
Jameson Croall, senior
Deryk Leverage (Glendale, Ariz.) and junior
Aidan Graham (Allen, Texas). You can read that article online
at this link.
Coach and a few players pre-recorded segments for the D1 Rejects Podcast, which will be doing a live "Small Football Saturday" show from the outfield grass at Fenway Park on Saturday morning. Those segments will be played throughout the 9-11 a.m. (ET) live broadcast. USMMA Acting Superintendent
Capt. Tony Ceraolo is expected to join the podcast team live during the 10 o'clock hour. You can watch that coverage live from Fenway by
following this link.
ESPN will air a segment during the 8 a.m. (ET) SportsCenter where they will give an in-depth look at both of the academies uniforms for this year's game. Merchant Marine will be wearing the white uniforms that they debuted for this game in 2024. Be on the lookout for that segment during the 8 a.m. (ET) SportsCenter on ESPN.
News12 Long Island will run a segment on the game Friday night into Saturday morning featuring interviews with Coach and senior
Danny Ferris (North Andover, Mass.), the team's lone Massachusetts representative, so if you're on Long Island be sure to set your DVRs! And D3football.com has applied for media credentials and will be at Fenway for the action, so look for content Saturday, Sunday and/or early next week on the go-to site for Division III football!
A Trip To The Fusion Bowl Is On The Line
Not only will the winner of Saturday's game get to "Sing Second," but they will also guarantee themselves one more week to the season! This game will be a battle for second place in the NEWMAC standings between the current second-place 7-2 (5-1 NEWMAC) Bears and the third-place 6-2 (4-2 NEWMAC) Mariners. A win for USMMA would put them ahead of Coast Guard with the head-to-head tiebreaker.
The second-place team in the NEWMAC standings at the end of the season automatically qualifies for the Fusion Bowl against the second-place team from the Conference of New England. The Fusion Bowl was created in 2024 to bring together top teams from the Northeast region. For more information on the Fusion Bowl,
click here.
Tickets Are Still Available! Use The MLB Ballpark App To Access Them To Enter
If you haven't bought your tickets to the big game just yet, you still can do so
at this link. Tickets will be also be available for walk-ups on-site at Gates A and D, however we do strongly recommend that you pre-purchase your tickets before you arrive to Fenway.
If you
have already purchased your tickets already, then they should be available on the MLB Ballpark app. (Note: Please make sure you are logging into the app using the email address you used to buy the tickets.) Be sure to have your smart phone out with the MLB Ballpark app open and your tickets ready to be scanned as you approach the turnstiles for the easiest entry.
Fan Fest Ticket Entry Is At Gate C; Fan Fest Is Currently Sold Out
If you've purchased tickets to the pre-game Fan Fest on the outfield of Fenway Park, you will be required to enter the stadium at Gate C. Fan Fest will run from 9-11 a.m. (ET) and will feature live music, lawn games, fun static displayers from both academies and exciting giveaways.
Secretaries' Cup Merchandise Will Be Available At Fenway Park
Fans, for your information there will be exclusive Secretaries' Cup merchandise available inside Fenway Park on Saturday. Be sure to check out the stores located in the concourses around Fenway Park to purchase your gear!
A Look At The Historic Rivalry
Saturday's meeting will be the 54th all-time between the two schools and the 45th-straight since the Secretaries' Cup was established in 1981. USMMA holds a 37-16 advantage overall on the gridiron over Coast Guard and has won the Secretaries' Cup 30 times to the Bears' 14.
The Mariners will be looking to reclaim the Cup this year, as Coast Guard came out victorious in the 2024 rendition of the game, 42-21, on Nov. 16 in Kings Point. However, it has been Merchant Marine who has held a steady record in the series as of late, as the Mariners won the previous five games before las year and, in total, eight of the last 10 and 16 of the last 21 meetings. The Bears have not won consecutive Secretaries' Cup games since winning three in a row from 1995-1997.
A Closer Look At Coast Guard
Under sixth-year head coach C.C. Grant, the Bears of the United States Coast Guard Academy come into Saturday's action sitting at 7-2 overall in the season, and are 5-1 in NEWMAC Conference action. USCGA lost its first game of the season to the University of New England, but then rattled off a seven-game winning streak which was halted last weekend in a de facto NEWMAC Championship Game against Springfield College, which the Bears lost 30-10 at Springfield.
The offense has been led by quarterback sophomore Sean Burns, who has compiled 1,890 passing yards to go along with 17 touchdowns, while throwing 10 interceptions. Burns has also scored four touchdowns on the ground, where he has amassed 174 rushing yards. Junior running back Harrison Hensley has found the end zone a team-best 16 times and has accounted for nearly 70% of the team's rushing yards, as he has netted 1,384 yards on 200 carries this year. He has also caught three touchdowns, totaling 17 receptions for 229 yards receiving. Senior Broock Desta is the team's leading receiver with 937 yards on 50 catches including seven touchdowns, while junior Matt LaBouliere has recorded 623 receiving yards with 10 TDs.
Defensively, junior linebacker Lucas White leads the Bears with 91 tackles, including one sack and 3.0 tackles for loss. Junior DB Blake Delevan is second on the squad with 74 stops, including 2.5 TFLs and sophomore d-lineman Will Adair is the team-leader in tackles for loss with 7.0 for 41 yards and sacks with 6.0 for 39 yards.
On special teams, Caleb McClure is 5-of-7 on field goals with a long of 33 yards, while also converting 46-of-47 PATs. Punter Lucas Hubert has averaged 37.18 yards on 22 punts with a long of 68 yards with two over 50 yards and five inside the opponents' 20 yard-line.
A Closer Look At The Mariners
Under Croall, who is in his fourth-season leading the squad, the Mariners sit at 6-2 overall and are 4-2 in NEWMAC action. They started 4-0 with wins over Montclair State, Nichols, Norwich and MIT, before falling to rival SUNY Maritime, but rebounding to defeat Salve Regina for the first time in program history. After a loss to first-place Springfield on Oct. 25, the Mariners righted the ship last weekend against WPI.
Sophomore
Bubba Mustain (Oro Valley, Ariz.) leads the Mariner offense, accounting for nearly a combined 1,500 yards with 846 on the ground and 645 through the air. He has ran in a team-best nine touchdowns, with 169 carries, and thrown seven TDs, while completing 40-of-81 passes and throwing just three interceptions.
Junior
Seamus Bonte (Westerville, Ohio) is second on the squad in rushing with 436 yards on 79 carries and has found the end zone three times, while senior
Danny Ferris (North Andover, Mass.) has ran the ball 77 times for 288 yards and four scores. Senior tight end
Ben Rini (Vermilion, Ohio) leads all receivers with 186 yards and has caught two touchdown passes, junior
Caleb Callahan (Poulsbo, Wash.) caught nine passes for 157 yards and has a team-best four receiving TDs.
Defensively, junior linebacker
Aidan Graham (Allen, Texas) has a team-best 41 tackles, including one sack and a Mariner-high seven tackles for loss. Classmate
Zatyk Holub (Mount Vernon, Iowa) is right behind with 40 stops and has 1.5 TFLs, four pass break-ups two quarterback hurries and a fumble recovery to his name. Senior
Chase Shavey (Mercer Island, Wash.) leads the squad with three interceptions.
On special teams, freshman
Karson Bye (Liberty Hill, Texas) is 4-for-4 on field goals with a long of 44 yards and has converted 21-of-22 PATs. Freshman
Calvin Evans (Tualatin, Ore.) has averaged 35.83 yards on 23 punts with a long of 58 yards and eight buried inside the opponents' 20 yard-line.
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