Tenney Stadium was alive Friday night as the Marist Red Foxes took down the New Haven Chargers 31-14 in dominant fashion to begin the 2025 season. Marist was propelled by their special teams unit, which forced four turnovers and scored a touchdown in the win.
“We want our guys to have roles,” said Marist head coach Mike Willis. “We have guys with big roles, but we also have guys completely buying into flying down the field on kickoffs and punts.”
Graduate student running back Tristan Shannon finished the game with 104 yards on just eight carries, good for 13 yards per carry. He was putting his agility and speed on display early and continued to do so throughout the contest.
Redshirt junior quarterback and team captain Sonny Mannino rushed three times for 19 yards on the Red Foxes’ inaugural drive, which was capped off with a 35-yard field goal by freshman kicker Samer Layous.
Marist reached the endzone just eight minutes into the game, and in very gutsy fashion. Willis decided to keep the offense out on the field on fourth down from their own 41-yard line; Shannon did the rest. Shannon took the handoff and exploded through the gap, resulting in a 59-yard touchdown to put the Red Foxes up 10-0 early.
On the following kickoff, New Haven senior wide receiver Joshua Tracey fumbled the ball, and the Red Foxes recovered it. The fumble was forced by redshirt freshman safety Wayne Adair. Marist was not able to capitalize on the good field position, as redshirt sophomore running back Lincoln Cardillo coughed the ball up shortly thereafter.
Sparked by a Chargers unnecessary roughness penalty, Mannino fired a laser inside the five to graduate student tight end Connor Hulstein. Hulstein then used his six-foot-six, 247-pound frame to his advantage, bowling over his defender and falling into the endzone. This put the Red Foxes up 17-0 as the first quarter came to a close.
New Haven’s initial first down of the game came early in the second quarter. Five plays later, the Chargers got into the endzone on a five-yard pass from junior quarterback AJ Duffy to junior tight end Evan Chieca to score the program’s inaugural Division I points.
On the very next drive, Mannino added to his already impressive rushing day, taking a designed QB-run for 39 yards deep into New Haven territory. Mannino finished the night with 119 rushing yards on 21 attempts, along with a touchdown.
“Following the guys in front of me is it,” said Mannino. “Them trusting me, me trusting them.”
The Chargers came out hot to start the second half, but to no avail. The Marist defense bent, but did not break, stopping New Haven short at the one-yard line on fourth-and-goal. Graduate student linebacker Garrett Carter blew through the line, recording his seventh tackle of the night. Carter would go on to finish the night with 8 total tackles, with none bigger than his fourth-down stuff.
With 3:24 left in the third quarter, the Marist special teams unit forced its second turnover of the game, this time on a muffed punt. The Red Foxes recovered and put up seven on a six-yard run by Mannino, entering the fourth quarter winning 24-7.
The special teams unit made another statement to start the fourth. The Chargers came out to kick what looked like an easy field goal, but redshirt junior defensive lineman Jalen Carpenter had other plans—blocking the field goal try, keeping the score at 24-7.
On the next New Haven drive, they marched down the field in just one minute, ultimately scoring on a Duffy pass over the middle. The touchdown pass was caught by senior wideout Logan Schmidt, keeping the Chargers within striking distance.
Back-to-back Marist three-and-outs gave New Haven the chance to come within one score, but the Chargers could not convert amidst Red Fox pressure on a fourth-and-seven with 6:31 to go, digging them a deeper hole. Junior safety Kade Werner got to Duffy for the sack.
“It was great to just come through for my teammates,” said Werner. “Yes, I got the stat, but there were 10 other guys on the field doing their job, allowing me to get there.”
Marist ended the game in the only right way possible—with a special teams touchdown. Another muffed punt by the Chargers was recovered in the endzone by redshirt junior linebacker Rene Barber, making the score 31-14 in favor of the Red Foxes. This would be the final score.
The Red Foxes have already tied their win total from last year, and will look to build on it next week at home against Bucknell of the Patriot League. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. on Saturday, September 6th.
Edited by August Lieberman
Photo by Jaylen Rizzo
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